Different realms, different rules—science and magic were clearly demarcated territories.
Even that bastard Accelerator couldn't properly apply his reflection to the unfamiliar domain of magic, because the vectors in magic were no longer what he understood.
According to Natsume Sonoko's current thinking, unless she could study all sorts of magically created products...and, on the way, figure out how these magical products changed due to incantations or different users, only then might she be able to properly apply her own abilities to these creations.
Really, it wasn't all that different from normal ability development: still about gathering information, seeking connections, and continuous trial and error.
It's just that magical knowledge was like ancient, indecipherable text to Natsume Sonoko.
Aside from the two types of power themselves, the human terminal wielding this power remained as fragile and insignificant as ever.
After dispelling the water orb on their heads, Natsume-san finally noticed they had gills like a fish's on their necks, breathing the oxygen reserved in the water through them.
She'd been startled seeing it at first too. This must be another form of magic—truly marvelous.
But these magical girls seemed to have underestimated their opponent once again.
Wearing a magical water orb couldn't stop a certain bun-headed girl's vicious clutches; Natsume was famously ruthless.
Placing the three captives in mid-air, having fully learned from last time's experience, Natsume-san wouldn't let that red-haired mage rescue them again.
The space elevator's opening ceremony was tomorrow. Even if just so everyone could happily go up for a visit, she needed to get to the bottom of what was happening.
The start of many things wasn't decided by Natsume-san, same for everyone including Misaka-senpai; they were just passively receiving others' malice.
But you can't just pretend trouble isn't there. Even if it's a headache, you have to resolve it as best you can. Burying your head in the sand just makes you an ostrich.
Natsume-san really disliked trouble, so she always hoped to solve it completely in one go, then have everything return to normal—the daily routine of just going to school and coming home.
There's a saying, isn't there? Each ordinary day we live might just be a series of continuous miracles.
To protect those miracles, Natsume-san would fight anyone. Her reason for fighting was utterly ordinary from the start.
Returning her thoughts to the present, Natsume-san focused on the remaining opponents.
Her initial idea was to use a high-power shockwave attack, leveraging the atmosphere's force to counter the enemy's flames.
The first attempt failed, but the second went surprisingly smoothly.
Sensing the dense flames in the hallway and that flame creature, Natsume-san swung her 'cannon' around, and a powerful shockwave instantly surged through the hole in the wall.
Like clearing a clog from a pipe.
Under the immense atmospheric pressure shockwave, with an initial velocity exceeding Mach 1, the flames of the Innocentius clogging the corridor instantly grew unsteady.
The flame creature seemed to want to push forward against the airflow, but found its body constantly forced back, only managing to grip the walls on both sides tightly.
Then its massive form could no longer hold its position. After leaving several deep gouges in the walls, it inevitably slammed into the wall at the other end of the corridor.
The Judgment Branch 177 office, with its missing door, was instantly blasted by the huge shockwave, sending items flying everywhere—though honestly, it was already a mess thanks to Natsume-san earlier.
The wall at the corridor's end was instantly smashed into a hole two people high by the flame creature's body. The reinforced concrete behind it quickly gave way under the tremendous impact.
The moment it was blasted out of the building, the monster's body began to uncontrollably disintegrate, turning into countless embers, faintly mixed with a few other glimmers of light.
With the passing of that single shockwave, both the flame creature and the raging sea of fire in the corridor vanished completely, leaving only a charred, blackened environment.
"That thing disappeared again."
Natsume-san was somewhat surprised.
She'd just blown the flame creature out of the building, and then it vanished. Was there some kind of causal relationship here?
She remembered the last time this thing disappeared into thin air too.
So perplexing. Mages and magic were both the same.
Which is why Natsume-san really liked straightforward, direct people.
"You used a move like that without hesitation? Weren't you afraid of hurting me and Onee-sama in the process?"
With an unseen spatial ripple, Shirai-san inexplicably appeared beside Natsume Sonoko, her gaze glancing at the three magical girls knocked out not far away.
Skillfully finding the updraft near Natsume-san, she held onto a slightly disheveled Misaka-senpai with one hand.
Misaka-senpai's clothes were slightly yellowed from the heat, but fortunately, she wasn't burned by the flames.
"Not at all. I carefully noted your and Misaka-senpai's positions. I'm not as reckless as you are, Shirai-san."
Retorting slightly, Natsume-san stood expressionless, seemingly still pondering what just happened.
"You..." Shirai-san, sitting in her wheelchair, couldn't help but sigh at the scene of devastation before her.
Judgment Branch 177 was going to need a major renovation, it seemed. At least no one on their side was injured.
"Natsume-san, did you find that person?"
Misaka-senpai wasn't quite used to the feeling of standing on an updraft; it was like being in quicksand that wouldn't sink.
Looking closely at Natsume-san, Misaka-senpai immediately understood—the Natsume-san before her was just an illusory projection, with a vague, unreal feeling about her.
"Already found her."
Natsume-san, from who-knows-where, spoke using air vibrations. If she deemed it necessary, she would choose to hide herself.
If a certain teleporter's style combined attack and evasion, then Natsume-san's conventional combat method was blending into the environment and using it.
Although the opponent also used a technique similar to her projection—more like a mirage, really—in front of Natsume-san, that person still had nowhere to hide.
She'd pinpointed the opponent's location the moment they used fire magic; they couldn't escape Natsume-san's perception.
Fully transparent, Natsume-san hovered in mid-air.
Her two eyes observed the corridor now open on both sides, her feet resting on the updraft, like a wandering ghost.
The place still reeked of burnt material, but Natsume-san decisively blocked out the smell.
However, Natsume-san also noticed a card left in the corridor, not completely destroyed, with some strange symbols drawn on it.
Didn't she see something like this last time she encountered that flame monster too? Natsume-san couldn't help but wonder.
"When did another person show up?"
Startled slightly, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared in Natsume-san's mind.
Extremely fast movement speed—arriving beside the red-haired mage in an instant—even Natsume-san had trouble reacting.
Against someone whose physical movement speed already exceeded the speed of sound, she couldn't catch up, probably couldn't win in a fight either... Natsume-san was utterly helpless.
But judging from the information relayed by the radar map, the outline of that person seemed somewhat familiar.
Now, at the junction of the corridor and the stairs, the mage in the black cloak appeared once more.
And beside him stood a trendy, fashionable young woman.
A belt at her waist held a katana over two meters long. A white T-shirt was tied up at her waist, and she wore worn-out jeans below.
"So it's Kanzaki-san."
Seeing the other's appearance, Natsume-san muttered, somewhat bewildered.
Come to think of it, didn't Kanzaki-san go back a few days ago?
"You've gone too far, Stiyl."
"Even if Meigo Arisa truly is a Saint, you actively attacked two of Academy City's Level 5s this time. This is practically starting a war between science and magic."
Kanzaki Kaori stood with her hands on her hips, speaking with clear dissatisfaction.
This time, the people sent to retrieve Meigo Arisa included not just Stiyl's group, but Kanzaki Kaori as well. It's just that this one seemed to have been... offline for a bit.
"It seems the higher-ups haven't told you the latest orders."
"Then again, these kinds of orders really aren't suitable for you to know."
Stiyl, who had somehow lit another cigarette, looked through the hole in the wall at the three magical girls unconscious in mid-air.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.