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Chapter 25
Chapter 1 — Blow all of heaven and earth to smithereens! • Episode 1-7 • Friend ②
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
A huge humanoid Diest, over 100 meters long, shaped by a mass of black haze.
The giant Diest just walks slowly, and the buildings and roads of the Deception World are collapsing.
It was not a new strain of Diest, nor is it a Humanoid Diest, which is said to be relatively easy to fight among Diests, but even so, it can never be underestimated when it comes to the Marquis class.
The sheer size of their bodies is a vicious weapon and armor in itself.
「Arrow Sword!」
「Press the Palm!」
The two magical girls attack from behind, so as not to overlap the giant’s line of movement.
The sword, shot out at high speed, pierces the Giant’s Achilles’ heel, and the pressure pushes the sword further in.
But the giant does not stop walking. It takes no notice of the two girl’s attacks and walks around as if searching for something.
「Kuh! We just don’t have enough firepower!」
「I still don’t know if there is a Magical Girl with a Natural Lineage, but…」
Blade and Press exchange words on the roof of an apartment building that escaped collapse.
Hearing that their role this time was to buy time against the Marquis-class Diest, the two thought it might be difficult, but their concerns were realized.
Originally, Magical Girls are not notified of the occurrence of a higher-ranked Diests. This is to prevent them from fighting unnecessarily and risking their lives.
However, it is a different story for Diests like those in the Marquis and Duke classes, whose impact would be too great if they should ever leave the Deception World and emerge into reality.
Of course, the purpose of informing the Magical Girls in Phase 1 and 2 of those Diest outbreaks is not to make them defeat them. Their role is to buy time for the arrival of the Magical Girls who have opened the third gate, the greatest asset to the Magical World.
However, even the higher-ranking Diests are not so naive as to be able to easily do so when asked to stall for time. If the attack does not get through in the first place, and then the Diest realizes that the Deception World is false, the Diest’s priority is to destroy the Deception World and invade reality.
In order to buy time against the top Diest, they need to have enough firepower to pass at least some damage.
Although there are some magical girls in Phase 1 who can use high firepower magic, it is basically the magical girls of the natural lineage who have the highest firepower. Creation and law systems, such as Blade and Press, are rather good at latching on and interfering.
「Power Of The Elephant!」
Elephant, who uses magic to enhance her physical abilities, throw disintegrating debris at the giant.
The fastball, which was over 200 kilometers per hour, only succeeded in shaving a little bit off the Diest’s body, but from the regeneration stock of the Marquis Class, it was only enough to scoop up a drop of water from a 5.0 meter pool. The Marquis Class has a regeneration stock of only a drop of water from a 50-meter pool.
Magical Girls of the Life Lineage, which has many body-enhancing magics, have the second highest firepower after the natural lineage when limited to Phase 1.
Even with such magic of Elephant, she was unable to stop the Giant Diest.
After throwing some debris, Elephant joined them, and Press shrugged.
「I guess we’ll have to get closer.」
「…You’re right. It was impossible for us melee-type users to handle a superior Diest opponent at long range.」
「Then I’ll be on the front lines to disrupt it.」
Elephant, who can act most quickly thanks to the benefits of body-enhancing magic, take the bait.
However, Blade and Press easily rejected the suggestion.
「It’s not a cakewalk if we’re talking about small turns alone. We’re all in it together.」
「I agree～」
The effects of body enhancement magic vary greatly depending on the magical girl who uses it.
This is true for the range of enhancement, but also for the ability to be enhanced.
For example, Elephant’s magic, as the name suggests, is a physical enhancement magic based on the elephant, and while it greatly enhances physical strength and sturdiness, it does not greatly benefit agility and small movements.
Elephant’s physical enhancements are what they call tank-oriented.
「Wait a minute–ran!」
Elephant, while not convinced, gave up on the idea that there was no time to argue.
Just before the three of them jumped out toward the Diest, a magic circle of transition appeared in the air, and Jack appeared from inside.
「I’m trying to convince Tyrant Sylph right now–ran! Going to the front is like throwing your life away–ran! Calm down–ran!」
The three saw a magiphone floating near Jack.
The screen shows that the call is in progress, and from what is said, the caller understands that the person on the other end of the line is Tyrant Sylph.
And the moment he understood this, Elephant started moving first.
A beat later, Blade and Press move as well.
「Wha–!? What are you doing–ran!」
「You don’t have to come!!」
Elephant, who had snatched the magiphone from Jack’s hand, spoke loudly.
Jack tried to stop her, but was seized by Blade and Press and was unable to move.
「Sylph-chan, you don’t have to come. We’ll take care of it.」
Having said all that, Elephant squeezed the Magiphone.
「Ahh—!? My Magiphone is broken–ran!?」
「I told you, Jack.」
Elephant told her friends and Jack about the events of three days ago.
Of course, she left out the parts that were private to Sylph and that she would not want people to hear, and that Tyrant Sylph might not be able to fight anymore.
In addition, Jack was the only one who nailed it.
He wanted Sylph-chan to leave herself alone until the time came for her to return to being a Magical Girl of her own volition.
Otherwise, she said, her heart would be broken before she would lose the battle.
Jack agreed. That is why she had not contacted Sylph before.
「This is a different situation–ran! Tyrant Sylph has it takes to defeat a Marquis-class Diest–ran! Even the dispatch of the witches will be delayed–ran! Because if it’s true, we have magical girls here who can defeat the Marquis-class–ran!」
Why are Witches dispatched in the first place when a higher Diest occurs?
It is because, of course, it is difficult to defeat them without Witches.
In other words, to put it another way, if there are magical girls in the area who can defeat the top Diests, there is no need to dispatch Witches.
There is no point in dispatching other witches to an area where Witches are active.
And Tyrant Sylph has already defeated the Marquis-class Diest once.
The Magic Bureau knows that this was almost solely the achievement of Tyrant Sylph, even though another Witch was accompanying her.
That’s why, Jack’s expectation was that it would definitely take a good amount of time for the other witches to arrive.
At this point, he said, the request to dispatch witches has not even gone through yet.
「Then we won’t just let that have it until they come. Plain and simple.」
「Making a kid who doesn’t want to fight fight? Are we in Shōwa? It just doesn’t feel like it was.」
「I won’t let you carry this on your back any longer, Sylph-chan. We will, I promise.」
Blade and Press had open Jack with light talk.
They looked at the giant without showing any enthusiasm, as if to say that this is an easy thing to do.
The three of them rushed out at the same time as Elephant’s oath.
「Why–ran? Why can’t you make the best choice to protect the world–ran? Ryōichi, even Chisaki and the others don’t understand–ran…」
Jack looked at the figure with a hearty sense of wonder and muttered to himself.
•
Whether the Magical Girls had become depressed by the shift to close combat, or whether they had simply dared to miss it because of the distance they had previously covered, the principle of Diest action is unclear, but in any case, the Diest did not ignore Elephant who approached and began their attack.
「Sword Geyser!」
A large number of swords strike at the Diest who stopped and tried to smash the magical girl.
Applied magic draws a magic circle on the side of the building and releases the swords from directly in front of it instead of from under its feet.
But even that magic was extinguished with a depressing wave of the Diest’s arm.
「Press The Finger!」
The output of magic remains the same. However, if the range of the magic is narrowed down, the magic that only holds and obstructs the opponent can be transformed into an offensive magic with penetrating power.
Press, which until now had released pressure from the palm of her hand, is now concentrated and unleashed in a single turn on the index finger. It was like a pressure bullet, and it did indeed cut through Diest’s body, but it did not penetrate.
「It’s too hard and it’s fading, but…」
Press gradually chipped away at the Diest’s massive body as it complained.
Her crushing palm is of no use because it loses its power.
「Power Of The Elephant! Two!」
Using a newly learned, more powerful than conventional enhancement magic, Elephant kicked the Diest.
The momentum of the kicking instantly made her retreat, and she pounced on Diest again.
The Giant Diest was unable to catch Elephant’s movement due to its massive slowness, and it flailed its arms around as if exasperated.
「Oh no—」
Elephant kicked the ground and jumped on the Diest, and suddenly the Diest started swinging its arms around at about the same time.
Worst of all, the trajectory of the swinging arm coincided with the trajectory of the leaping Elephant.
Elephant crosses her arms to defend herself as quickly as possible.
However, just before the collision, what she saw through the gap between the crossed arms was not the pitch-black arm of the Diest,
「Gigant Punch!」
It was a large fist made of a flickering orange flame.
The black arm of the swinging Diest and the orange fist collided and both were flung away.
While the Diest was severely disoriented by the arm kick, the Magical Girl landed dangerously on the ground after launching an orange fist.
「Knuckle-san!!」
Elephant, having escaped the trajectory of the arm, quickly disengaged from the attack and ran to the magical girl in the fist.
The girl appeared to be several years older than Elephant and the others, and was dressed in a combat-like outfit of orange and red. A large gauntlet is attached to his arm, emitting something like a flickering orange flame.
Her name is Knuckle, a Magical Girl.
She is a Magical Girl from Junkoi Town, next to Sakira Town, and a reliable senior who Elephant and her friends have fought with on several occasions.
She is usually accompanied by two more Magical Girls, and surprisingly, they have all reached Phase 2.
「As expected from the Marquis-class. I didn’t think we’d be able to phase with that one now.」
「Are you okay?」
「The damage isn’t that big of a deal. More importantly, where’s the witch?」
「Not yet. Jack said it was going to take a while, so we all held up.」
「You said it would take time? Is it because of Ex? We’re having a hard time over here.」
「Ex is so. Marquis-class is out here, too. Peach is…」
「Ukyakyakyakya!!」
「Gurururu!!」
「Gieeeen!!」
The noisy cries of animals echoed from somewhere, interrupting their conversation.
Immediately after, a peach-colored light shone in the sky.
「Peach Slash!」(TN : Reverting Peach-colored Demon Slash)
A peach-colored light falling at high speed like a meteor struck Diest’s arm and slashed down its huge fist.
The peach-colored light, which landed on the ground with a cloud of dust, faded away gradually, flickering, and finally vanished completely. A girl stands in a cloud of dust, where the light has disappeared.
The girl shook off the smoke with a sword in her right hand and announced herself.
「Magical Girl, Samurai Peach, attending here!」
A girl with a peach-colored ponytail and period costume.
She is flanked by a rabid-looking monkey, dog, and pheasant, all of whom are staring at the Diest with bloodshot eyes.
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「I will not tolerate any more wolverines in my presence!」
The name of the girl who thrusts her sword into the Diest and shouts was Magical Girl Samurai Peach.
She is a Magical Girl who is Knuckle’s companion and also a senior to Elephant and the others. She has a somewhat unique sensibility, but her ability is well known. Her strength can be seen in the fact that she cut down the fist of a Marquis-class.
「Doping Dumpling!」(TN : Grandpa’s Dango)
Following Peach, who ran out using group reinforcement magic, the attendants plunged into the Diest.
The monkey’s scratches gouged deeply into the Diest’s body, while the dog’s bite easily gnawed and scraped. The pheasant plunged into the dist with such vigor that it windpiled through the Diest’s body.
The sword wielded by Peach was no less powerful than those of her attendants, carving up one cut after another.
「——Well, that’s just the way it is.」
「I–I see. Eh!? So, Ex is fighting the Diest alone! That’s not good!」
Ex was the leading Magical Girl Knuckle’s group and was the strongest of the three. However, that does not mean that she could defeat the Marquis-class Diest alone, and although Elephant was glad that Knuckle and Samurai Peach came to join them, she wondered if it would not be worthwhile if that put Ex in danger.
「You really are a sweet girl, Eleph-chan. Don’t worry, the Ex you know and the strength of the current Ex are two different things. Anyway, we’re going too.」
「Okay!」
She was worried, but if Knuckle, who knows Ex better than she does, says so, it must be all right. Elephant decided so and changed her mind.
The arrival of the two Phase 2 Magical Girls greatly improved the battle situation, but they still could not overthrow them on our own.
The fact that the Marquis-class’ blow was still fatal to Elephant and the others also did not change the fact that they were the only ones who had the ability to defeat the Marquis Class.
They don’t even know how long it will take for the witch to show up.
（But I’m still going home alive. I’m going to live and fight and prove to Sylph-chan that she doesn’t have to fight.）
Elephant steps out with determination and looks up at the Diest.
In her line of sight, she sees a light. If she strained her eyes, she can just barely see it. It is the light of the transfer magic circle.
「Was that Ex already done there?」
Knuckle must have seen it. They were told that the witches would be late, and if that was the case, that light could be none other than their own leader. That’s why she wondered if it was too soon.
On the contrary, Elephant, not knowing the exact strength of Ex, looks at it with greatness and respect that she can defeat it so quickly.
No one expected it.
The presence that emerges from that light.
「Who was that…?」
「Who’s person is this…?」
The two did not know. Who was this magical girl?
「Ahaha, she did it☆」
「I guess that means she’s ready to go.」
「No way… why…?」
The three of them knew she would never come. They knew that that Magical Girl could not fight anymore.
Her priestly vestments fluttering in the wind and her emerald green twin-tail hair.
In her hands she held a large cane as tall as she was, and from her downcast face they could not tell what the girl was thinking or what expression she had on her face.
Magical Girl Tyrant Sylph.
The ruler of the storms emerged.