Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume1 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 3===

That absurdly large broadcast station had a range that crossed national borders to cover the entire Southeast Asia region.

After growing to a bloated 200 stories tall, there was one thing it was bound to have: elevators.

They needed quite a few of those to quickly and comfortably transport a large number of personnel and materials such as props.

There were general elevators for tourists and audience members, shipping entrance ones that could carry an entire loaded midsized truck, special ones that let entertainers sneak out the back way, and business ones for the other personnel.

The white-haired woman named Elicia Luxverg was riding a VIP elevator. It was made of glass to give a view of the evening cityscape, so it may have been similar to those at a resort hotel.

Its riders would normally be accompanied by station staff acting as a guide, their secretary, or a bodyguard, but Elicia was different.

She had a simple reason for refusing any of that:

“They would get in the way.”

The giant building had an unusually complicated layout to make sure the entertainers could avoid running into obsessive fans, but Elicia had learned her own way around. She also kept track of her own schedule down to the minute or second and she could intercept any unexpected attacker.

She was the world’s strongest all on her own.

With power on her level, not harming the people around her was the most difficult part of resolving any trouble that occurred. After all, her dinosaur did not allow for finetuned control. She went to the trouble of smiling for the cameras and performing some lip service for the masses, so she wanted to avoid ''making mincemeat'' out of an ally. That would waste all the effort put into that hours-long facial workout.

(Although the best form of defense is to keep your location a secret.)

In that sense, being at an obvious landmark and leaving by helicopter was not the best choice. If she was being honest, driving a half-rusted used car through a small road lined with plywood and prefab buildings was more her style.

Currently, she caught scent of something inside that empty elevator.

She pulled out her phone and made a video call to the station chief on the top floor.

“I am scheduled for four interviews, a one-on-one talk, and then dinner with some ‘influential people’, correct?”

“Y-yes. I do apologize for the busy schedule when you must be exhausted, but just think about how much good will come from-”

“Cancel them all.”

“Huh?”

She did not bother responding to his peace-dulled confusion.

She summed it all up as much as possible.

“You need to prepare yourself. You have an intruder.”

Her prediction proved accurate.

A moment later, the elevator’s lights cut out, informing her of a power outage.

She heard an ear-splitting screech similar to sparks scattering as a train’s wheels were caught by the emergency brakes. The elevator came to a rapid stop on its way to the top floor.

“…”

It was evening. The building was so tall these higher levels would somewhat extend the time until sunset, but it was still horrifyingly dark. Did the loss of the artificial lights really make this much of a difference?

Her phone’s screen cast some light into that darkness, but the call had ended.

It said “no signal”, so it must have been using this very broadcast station and tower to make the call. But there was no chaos in the city she could see through the glass, even though a largescale blackout would likely cause accidents at the traffic lights and train crossings. That meant the power was out only for the broadcast station.

(National broadcasts are key to restoring order in emergencies. Counterterrorism measures in place for this crucial infrastructure should have it back up in less than five minutes, but surely they don’t hope to attack during that short time.)

The digital floor display had vanished with the power out, but this was probably near the 190th floor.

The next noise she heard came from the center of the metal elevator door. A katana-like blade made of crystal jabbed out at her chest height. It slid down along the gap between the double doors and sliced through some kind of latch like a hot knife through butter.

The automatic doors were forced open by human hands to reveal who awaited her.

“I recognize that blazer.” The world’s strongest kept her voice low but she smiled despite being trapped in a dangling birdcage. “A survivor of Grimnoah, I take it?”

“No.”

It was a slender boy.

He was accompanied by a pale crystal girl wielding a bladed weapon.

A stagnant light filled his eyes as he introduced himself.

“I am the one who will kill and surpass you.”