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Chapter 98
Chapter 3 — Dry scrape, burn and perforate! • Episode 3–4 — Witch Cup ③【Wind VS Dragon, Rabbit VS Expansion】
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
With Rabbitfoot disappearing into the forest and Tyrant Sylph flying toward her in her sights, Dragon Call knew she had failed. Up to the halfway point, she had been able to follow Wigs Crosseau plan, but Sylph had persisted longer than she had imagined. She couldn’t push through just when she was almost there. She doesn’t know if Tyrant Sylph were running away in anticipation of Rabbitfoot’s intrusion, but she can say that the Goddess of Fortune smiled on them.
But they haven’t lost yet. The overwhelming advantage has been broken, but that doesn’t mean the situation is favorable to Sylph and Rabbitfoot. Dragon Call thought so and gave herself a pep talk. There is no time to be gutted because the operation has failed.
「Dancing wind dragon, respond to my song and show your menace!」
Rabbitfoot’s blow, fired from outside her consciousness, was blocked by the fire dragon she had summoned and did not do much damage to Dragon Call. Instead, the fire dragon that received a direct hit went down completely and couldn’t be summoned for a while.
There are only three types of dragons left that Dragon Call can summon with substance. The Sea Dragon excel at underwater battles, the Ground Dragon excel at ground battles, and the Wind Dragon have the power to manipulate the wind. Dragon Call herself can fly with the power of the Fire Dragon it carries within itself, but Sea Dragon and Earth Dragon don’t have the ability to fly. Therefore, there is practically only one option here. She didn’t know how far the power of the Wind Dragon would go against Tyrant Sylph, a Magical Girl Of The Wind, but there was no way not to summon the Dragon because there was a huge difference in strength between having a Dragon and not having a Dragon.
When the chanting was complete, a slender dragon covered with white scales appeared behind it like a guardian spirit of Dragon Call and let out a curculious, high-pitched cry.
In addition, the Dragon calls forth its own special weapon, a sword, to boost its abilities. When she was holding Extend, she didn’t have it because her hands were occupied.
『I apologize, Crosseau-san. I was separated from Extend-san due to Rabbitfoot-chan’s intrusion.』
『Understood. Who are you two fighting?』
『I will deal with the Rabbit Witch.』
『I will fight with Tyrant Sylph-chan. I’ll finish it as soon as possible and join Extend-san.』
『No, ——wait, there doesn’t seem to be room for chitchat.』
「Sextal Tornado Mixer!」
「Flap!」
Although she was concerned about what Extend was about to say, she decided that she should focus on the opponent in front of her and flapped her wings with the help of the Wind Dragon in an attempt to dodge the six tornadoes that were approaching her.
The Wind Dragon is suited for support, as they increase the rider’s speed and have high detection ability, but they don’t have the high-powered breath or bombardment ability of Fire Dragon. Therefore, the current Dragon Call cannot offset the environmental magic as they have just seen, but Sylph is unaware of this fact. No matter how much she has studied from videos, she doesn’t know everything about Witches. It was also likely that the thought was that Dragon Call wouldn’t be able to avoid the Tornado Mixer now that she no longer had support from the time extension of Extend. So that magic, once completely evaded, was used again toward Dragon Call.
Dragon Call wasn’t sure about this, but she was confident that she could still get away with it if she kept up her evasive maneuvers. Even though there’s no time-dilation magic from Extend, unlike the previous case, there is assistance from the Wind Dragon and a special weapon to raise the level of ability. Dragon Call had visions of perfectly avoiding the oncoming tornado.
It would soon become clear which idea was correct.
「Urk～!」
She can’t avoid it all.
Chased by the tornado, which relentlessly aimed at her as if it were a living creature, and gradually being whittled away, Dragon Call learned that she had underestimated the Tyrant Sylph’s ability.
When she had the support of Extend, the raging tornado seemed to be moving slowly, and it was easy to see how she could move to scrape through the gap. But now that Dragon Call is alone, even with the benefit of the increased speed provided by the Wind Dragon, it’s still unable to catch the onrushing wind dragon.
「Field Magic——」
In her haste, Dragon Call tried to use Life-system Field Magic, but she was a step too late in her decision. The tornado, which was approaching from outside her perception, engulfed her, and her body, which contained the Dragon’s power, was shattered into pieces like clodhoppers.
The shattered avatars disappeared, sprinkling rainbow-colored light and star and heart mark effects. It’s a grotesque measure that takes into consideration good little Magical Girls, and no blood will flow from the avatar.
After winning the battle, Sylph muttered something in a whisper, then, as if remembering, called back her great wand and flew away.
.
Time had moved back a bit since the defeat of Dragon Call, and Extend had been knocked down into the forest, her back to the shade of a large tree to hide. Her breathing is ragged, and parts of her body are leaking seven-colored particles and star- and heart-shaped effects, and even from the side she’s far from being in perfect condition.
To tell the truth, Extend was considerably damaged when she was caught in Tyrant Sylph’s Field Magic. Unlike Dragon Call, where her body is strengthened by the dragon’s power, Extend’s body isn’t as robust as that of the average Magical Girl or Witch.
In the usual mock battle, the winner would’ve been the one who was swallowed by the storm, but this time the situation was such that she managed to survive because she was held by the sturdy Dragon Call, which limited the damage somewhat, and because the storm was quickly offset.
「Field Magic:『Rabbit』」
Against such a fully wounded Extend, Rabbitfoot is neither careless nor relentless.
Territorial Magic is the domain magic of the Life Lineage, and unlike other lineages, its effects are almost the same for any Magical Girl. At the time of activation, it defines a certain area centered on itself as its territory, and all of its abilities are greatly increased only within its territory. In other words, it is a Strengthening Magic that seems to be a Life System.
It’s simple, but that doesn’t make it foolproof. The level of enhancement depends on the ability and skill of the Magical Girl, but it’s not surprising that a Witch who is considered to be the pinnacle of Magical Girls would’ve an efficacy ten times greater than that of an ordinary Magical Girl.
Normally, when a Magical Girl from a hostile Life Lineage uses area magic, the theory is to leave the area, but Rabbitfoot is simply faster, and when the reinforcement from the territory is taken into account, it’s impossible for her to escape. It’s possible to use Time Dilation Magic, but the more she try to extend the time, the more magic power it consumes. Furthermore, Time Dilation has the worst fuel consumption. That is one reason why they didn’t extend the time more significantly against Tyrant Sylph, and if she used them to get out of a territory that she didn’t know how big it was, she would likely be unable to do anything afterwards, even if she could escape.
In other words, the only path left for Extend is to intercept.
「Grab The Sky.」
Like bullets fired indoors, Rabbitfoot bounces around in all directions, kicking at the trunks and branches of the giant trees. Extend cowered, wondering if she had been already spotted. In this dimly lit forest, where the sunlight is almost completely blocked out, the effects leaking from the wounds are too obvious. Even if blood had flowed from the wound, it would’ve been difficult to hide from Rabbitfoot, which has the senses of a beast.
「Ex :『Time.』」
Expanding one second to two seconds, Extend followed Rabbitfoot’s movements with her eyes while in this state. Even in this state, Rabbitfoot was just barely moving, so it was no wonder that she was called the fastest in linear maneuvering.
Extend wasn’t sure if Rabbitfoot was aware that she herself had caught the movement, but it didn’t matter.
Extend, realizing that Rabbitfoot has switched the direction of travel to her at super-speed, without any sense of discomfort or impetus, very naturally, raise her magic gear.
「It’s 5 seconds.」
This is the maximum time dilation that Extend can do right now. Rabbitfoot, which was approaching with the speed of a bullet, slows down just before contact, just as it is about to kick Extend with all her might. No, in fact, Rabbitfoot is not slowing down. It just seems that way to Extend, and then only she can move as usual in the slowed down time.
Astonished by Rabbitfoot, which even in the five-fold extended time did not move in slow motion but moved as fast as an ordinary human, Extend turned herself slightly as if by reflex and pointed her spear so that it overlapped the Rabbitfoot’s trajectory of motion. That was enough, but it’s correct to say that in fact it was all she could do. That is how extraordinary Rabbitfoot’s speed was.
Extend inwardly analyzes that her uncontrollable speed is the reason for her defeat.
Extend’s Time Dilation Magic may appear to move at high speed from the opponent’s point of view, but from Extend’s perspective, the surroundings seem to be slowing down in the opposite direction. So there’s no such thing as being swept away by speed. However, in the case of Magical Girls who have enhanced their bodies and forcefully increased their speed, their perception of their own speed cannot keep up. It’s very difficult to think while acting. So Rabbitfoot will be restarting before she knows what has happened.
With this in mind, the moment she released the expansion magic, it was Extend that disappeared, scattering seven-colored light and glittering effects as it exploded.
「You’re stupid. There is no way that I would make a move that I can’t control.」
Rabbitfoot could see everything.
Whether it was Extend turning away to escape Rabbitfoot’s initial attack trajectory, or holding up her hand spear. If she can see it, of course she just have to change her movement accordingly. She twisted her body forcibly to deliver a kick to Extend, and slightly changed her own trajectory as a reaction.
It was neither luck nor luck; it was unmistakably a victory brought about by Rabbitfoot’s ability.