Chapter 48: 48

Snake-like Flame

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

–Chidori, who he wanted to protect, was fighting with a Demonic Beast.

Tsugumi gnashed his teeth as he stared at the backs of the Chidori and the Ogre moving away from him. He knew that Chidori had the aptitude to be a Magical Girl. But who could have predicted that she would make a contract with God at this point in time?

“…It’s my fault.”

There was no way Chidori would voluntarily become a Magical Girl. In all likelihood, she saw that Tsugumi was being chased by the black Ogre, and in her impatience, she took God’s offer. …It was almost like a scam.

So far, Chidori had not shown any side effects like other Magical Girls. In other words, Chidori’s contract God was a very powerful God who could resist the rejection of the barrier. However, it was hard to believe that the resistance would last forever. The limit would be reached soon.

Chidori, protecting herself with a shield-like object, moved lightly as if gliding on the ground, playing with the Ogre. Perhaps thanks to her long experience in kendo, the way she handled the attack was quite imposing, and she looked much more superior than Hagakure Sakura of the early days.

If Chidori kept up the momentum and turned to attack, she would have a good chance to win. …But, it wasn’t the real problem.

“That Chidori, she’ll never win… She should have known that better than anyone.”

◆　◆　◆

“–Kuh, the attack is too heavy!”

Chidori raised a pained voice as she fend off the Ogre’s attacks. Even though her physical abilities had improved by becoming a Magical Girl, the power of the Ogre’s attacks was still tremendous, and her hands went numb with each blow she received from the gold bar.

If Mibu had not cut off one of the Ogre’s arms to reduce its offensive power, this thin shield would have been easily destroyed.

…In the first place, the skill given to Chidori was not [Shield].

The two skills that Chidori obtained by becoming a Magical Girl were [Wind] and [Door]. She jumped in front of the Ogre before knowing the details of those skills, but Tsugumi was able to safely escape. With that alone, it could be said her original goal had been accomplished.

“I have to do something about this guy quickly…!!”

Chidori muttered impatiently, and then increased her mobility by creating wind around her feet.

–The God of the white rabbit was doing everything in their power to ensure that Chidori could move fully within this barrier. But they said that it would not last very long. If that happened, Chidori would be subjected to the same side effects as the two Rikka. Before that happened, she had to defeat the Ogre somehow.

With that in mind, Chidori tried to strike the Ogre with the wind blade, but it didn’t work.

…The image of the blade was made properly. Even the timing was well-timed. But for some reason, the blade disappeared as if it were softly unraveling in front of the Ogre’s eyes.

“Why!? Why won’t it hit!?”

She shouted in a trembling voice, but the result remained the same no matter how many times she repeated it.

–If Tsugumi had been here, he would have answered Chidori’s question like this–“That’s because you subconsciously avoid killing.”

The Magical Girl’s skills were activated and developed by their own will. The stronger the mental power, the more precise it became. Therefore, it was only natural that if they hesitated to hurt their opponent even just a little, their skills wouldn’t be successfully activated.

…In Chidori’s case, it was fair to say that the first opponent was a bad match. Unlike large insects, dragons, and other Demonic Beasts, Ogre was extremely human-like in shape.

Ordinary people were not comfortable even killing small animals, but could Chidori really hurt something that was associated with humans?

Magical Girls belonging to the government overcame such repulsion by simulating it through simulators, but for Chidori who had no training in this area, it was probably still too heavy of a burden. In the first place, people like Tsugumi, who could kill Demonic Beasts without hesitation from the beginning, were strange.

–As the time limit was approaching, Tsugumi stared at her from afar with serious eyes as she fought desperately.

◆◆◆

“–I knew it… That’s why I told you over and over again that you’re not cut out to be a Magical Girl.”

Tsugumi dropped Suzushiro off at a safe place and returned to where Chidori was, hiding in the shadows of the building. He couldn’t just run away alone in silence.

Upon arriving, he saw Chidori manipulating the air with a tearful face and an Ogre wielding a gold bar with one arm. Chidori was unharmed, but neither was the Ogre.

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…Apparently, just as Tsugumi had feared, Chidori was unable to mount a proper attack against the Ogre.

–In the first place, a person who had a tender heart was not suited to be a Magical Girl.

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“The government’s Magical Girl candidates are not good enough,” Bell once complained, but those who had a true spirit of compassion for living creatures were crushed and quit at the candidate stage. The only ones who remained were those who were somewhat screwed up. But even the chosen ones often had their hearts broken after repeated battles.

He had many things to say to Chidori, who had become a Magical Girl. But in order to do so, he had to get rid of the black Ogre that stood in his way. But could the current Tsugumi do it?

“…But it’s not that there isn’t any way to do it.”

Tsugumi grunted as he held his left eye, which suddenly began to ache. The blood-colored flames appeared in his field of vision as if in proportion to the stabbing pain. …This was the same thing he saw in the Radon fight.

-What is the meaning of this fire hallucination? He had been thinking about it all this time, and now it felt like he had finally come up with an answer.

Tsugumi considered this flame to be the manifestation of “the Possibility of Death”. By attacking the place where the flame appeared, he could fix the fate of death – perhaps this was the right answer.

His memory was hazy because he was almost in a trance during the Radon battle, but that would explain the killing of immortality.

Derived from the image of red thread that visualized Suzune’s “mortality”, this was a different ability that was not described as a skill. Did his talent blossom after nearly dying many times, or was it the ability of someone else nestled inside Tsugumi?

For Tsugumi, the latter was more likely. It was probably why he couldn’t use it freely.

“The flames are concentrated on the right side of the Ogre’s neck–that’s where Mibu-san cut it.”

Until now, the shadow of the flames couldn’t be seen on the Ogre’s body. But after Chidori started fighting the Ogre, he could see it a little bit. There might be a condition for the appearance of the flames.

Tsugumi held his chin as if in thought, and then remembered the object hooked around his waist. –A kodachi borrowed from Mibu. He picked up the sword and gently removed the cloth wrapped around the blade.

The sharp blade was covered with reddish-black blood, and just by looking at it, one could tell that the sharpness of the blade was frightening. Since it belonged to one of the Rikka, it had to be a very powerful sword.

The moment he turned the sword toward the Ogre, he thought of a plan, as if by divine revelation.

“Chidori’s role. The existence of this sword. And my invisibility skill. –I see, it’s theoretically possible.”

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The strategy was simple. Tsugumi used Invisibility to sneak up on the Ogre and stab the sword into its neck. As simple as that. If there was a problem, it would be the lack of coordination with Chidori.

In addition, if the Ogre detected Tsugumi’s approach, the possibility that the flame would disappear couldn’t be dismissed. This flame, unlike Suzune’s red thread, was still undetermined. Depending on Tsugumi’s action, fate might get rewritten.

When he met Suzushiro in front of the maze, the flame that had been clinging to her disappeared in an instant. Her fate surely changed because of Tsugumi’s interference.

–if I don’t do it well, the spider thread will break in a flash.

Then he placed his right hand over his heart and closed his eyes as if in prayer.

–Tsugumi didn’t know who the white-haired girl that he had seen in his dream was. But every time he tried to remember her, he felt a tight pain in his chest. The feeling of loss and nostalgia was so mixed up that it was hard to put the feeling into words.

The only thing he could tell was that the girl was very important to Tsugumi of the past.

Now Tsugumi could only cling to the girl’s power.

“Please, help me.”

–Having forgotten all about her, maybe he was selfish to say this.

Still, if Tsugumi reached out, she would surely hold his hand. He had such a strange conviction.

To answer the desperate prayer, a chirping bell resounded in his head. As if guided by the sound, he slowly opened his eyes. Tsugumi, seeing the scene spread out before him, subconsciously muttered.

“A path of fire?”

A path made of flames led from his feet to where the Ogre was. It looked like a giant snake.

Tsugumi’s intuition told him to follow this path. And then he remembered the words that had been haunting him for some time.

“There is a way of life in the midst of the fire, huh. …I know It’s just a coincidence, but it’s a little strange that it matches the current situation like this.”

Tsugumi stroked his left eye, which was burning, as if in an effort to soothe it. She was certainly here.

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“Thank you.–I’ll definitely remember you someday.”

-With this, I feel like I’m finally at the starting line

Tsugumi exhaled a small breath as he looked at the glimmering flames. Whether the operation would work or not was depending on him.

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