CH 17

Chapter 1 — Blow all of heaven and earth to smithereens! • Episode 1-5 • Weakpoint ② ☆

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

Just in time.

The first thing Jack felt when he saw the scene was great relief.

The moment he realized that hypnotic magic was a terrible match for the Tyrant Sylph, Jack had contacted the other Magical Girls. It was a personal communication to say the least, unlike the usual Diest occurrence alarm. So it was a gamble whether they would notice.

Other requests for help were sent to other Magical Girls in the surrounding area, but the further away they were, the longer the transition would take.

More to the point, a powerful Diest can distort many things. The best example of this is now happening. In the Marquis-class and above, the time that passes between the magical girls fighting and the real world is very different. If it’s just a Baron-class, there is no need to be concerned, but with the new Diest, one can’t be too careful.

The chances of someone coming to the rescue before Tyrant Sylph is killed are not so great. A bet is a bet, but a bad bet for a moment. Still, Jack won the bet.

「For Sylph-chan to be torn like this, this unforgivable…」

Just before Tyrant Sylph, which could no longer sustain its magic, was about to crash, a girl gently accepted its body.

Tyrant Sylph, limp and unconscious, is just a girl anywhere, but her body is covered in wounds, and the girl bites her lip, her face contorted at the sight of the tragic figure.

She felt sorry for herself. She felt ashamed of herself for trying to burden such a small child with everything.

The girl gently lowers Tyrant Sylph to the ground and turns to the two-headed sheep, which continues to sing.

「It’s absolutely unforgivable!!」

She has vivid blue hair and a fluttering sky-blue costume. She wears a pair of metal boots, and her appearance is unmistakably that of a magical girl.

Magical Girl, Elephant.

The kind-hearted elephant magical girl howled with flames of anger lit in her eyes.

•

「Haaaaaahh!!」

Elephant, with a spirited yell, delivers a high kick to the face of the Two-headed Sheep, which is still singing. One kicked head hits the other with such force that the impact causes the other head to hit its foot bellows.

Elephant, wary of how strong it was because it was a Diest that Tyrant Sylph could lose, felt uncomfortable.

Jack had told her that the Diest was a Baron class, but there was no way that Tyrant Sylph could be defeated by a mere Baron-class. Determined that it have some terrible means of attack hidden away, Elephant rushed to push off before it can use it.

「That Diest uses hypnotic magic–ran! It was a terrible match for Tyrant Sylph, but it won’t work on you–ran! It shouldn’t be that different from just another Baron class–ran!」

Jack, who had been observing Elephant’s battle, raised his voice.

The Diest learns. But it is not all about learning anything right. The two-headed sheep Diest learned that it was able to defeat Tyrant Sylph with hypnosis, and learned that it was a very effective tool.

That was not a mistake. However, that is only if Tyrant Sylph is the opponent.

Magical Girls have a very high resistance to the kind of attack that directly affects them. It is so that they can resist and nullify most of those attacks unless they are very incompatible with each other.

It just happened to work for Tyrant Sylph because she had a craving for sleep, and it would never work on Elephant who sleeps comfortably every day.

Hence, for Elephant, the Two-headed Sheep Diest is the same as dealing with a mere baron class.

However, if it is just a baron class, it is another story.

（You make it sound so easy. I’ve never beaten a Baron-class by myself.）

Right now, Elephant is still able to attack unilaterally because the Two-headed Sheep Diest mistakenly believes that hypnosis is effective, but if it realize that it is ineffective, Elephant would rather be at a disadvantage.

Originally, Elephant’s combat ability was such that she could defeat the Knight class by herself without any problem, and she has never fought against the Baron Class alone.

「Hah!」

The accumulation of damage destroys one head of the Diest. Of course, the Baron class Diest does not disappear by itself, and gradually the missing head regenerates, but there is no reason to wait for it to do so. Elephant kicks the ground to attack the other head, ignoring the regenerating head.

「Guuuhh!?」

But before she could kick the head, the regenerating head swung like a whip and struck Elephant hard. Elephant, which had been caught off guard by the one-way attack, was blown away by the whip.

「Is the Bonus Time over?」

Elephant, which landed with a clatter and the sound of her boots scraping against the ground, speaks lightly. She acts like she can afford it, but inwardly she was sweating cold sweat and thinking about what to do from here.

There is no escape. Since she doesn’t know when the other magical girls will arrive, the only way to keep it from going to the real world is for Elephant to stop it in its tracks. But if she fought too passively and stall for too long, Tyrant Sylph may be targeted. She will definitely protect her, but there is always a “just in case”. If she’s not a target, there is nothing better.

In order to protect Tyrant Sylph, she must attack the Diest so hard that it can’t ignore her and settle the matter quickly.

（I guess that means I have to do it after all!!）

Originally, Elephant became a Magical Girl to protect those she cared about. It is more than desirable to put one’s body on the line to protect a girl named Tyrant Sylph, and Elephant’s fighting spirit burns louder than ever before as she makes her resolve.

（Besides…）

In fighting alone, Elephant’s appropriate opponent was the Knight-class.

But that was in the past. Since the outbreak of the new strain of Diest, Elephant has not fought any Diest stronger than the Knight class, but it has not stagnated in the meantime. In the time between living and defeating Diests, she was trying to catch up with Tyrant Sylph as much as possible.

In the past, Elephant would have been able to do little more than stall for time against the Baron class.

But now, if Elephant is here now. One wouldn’t say they are evenly matched. It would also be true that the Baron Class Diest had the advantage. Still, it was also clear that they were not an opponent that could never be beaten.

「Fufuh!」

She laughs, seemingly unintentionally, remembering what Tsurugi once said to her.

（If I can’t even risk my life, then I must not become a Magical Girl. She’s right. I’m sure you’re right about that, too. But you know what, Tsuru-chan? I’ll answer as many times as I have to, just as I did then.）

She will put her life on the line. But that does not mean that she was prepared to die at any moment. She will risk their lives, and they will all survive.

That is Elephant’s vow.

It is a prayer deep in her heart that she was not aware of when she first met Blade.

「I’ll protect you!」

Elephant ran and the Two-headed Sheep Diest clash.

「My friends, my family as well!」

The body of the Diest shaped in a black haze is chipped as if gouged, and blood flows down from Elephant’s skin, which is cut by sharp horns.

「This world as well!」

The Diest is emotionless, while Elephant screams with emotion.

「And for myself too!!」

The time it took to reach that settlement was not very long.

•

This is a dream.

I soon realized that.

I had no idea why I was having this dream, or what I had been up to, or any of the details, but I knew immediately that it was a dream.

A young boy blows his breath against a candle held up to a large cake.

When the fire was extinguished, a gentle voice said, “Congratulations,” accompanied by the sound of applause.

It was the voices of a man and a woman. The lights in the room, which had been turned off, were turned on and three figures were smiling happily.

It was my father and mother. It was the father and mother I remembered from my youth. So, in other words, the boy must be me.

Now I am watching such a situation from somewhere far away.

The scene has changed, this time to an amusement park.

My father have me on his shoulders and my mother pushing a stroller with my little sister still in it.

They were happily talking about the next ride or the next meal.

Next was the elementary school.

I enjoyed chatting with friends during the breaks between classes, and playing dodgeball during lunch break.

After school, we gather at our friends’ houses to play video games.

During summer vacation, we go to the swimming pool with my friends, travel with my family, and seem to be having a good time.

In junior high school, I sweat with my friends in club activities and shed tears of regret when we lose in competitions.

Before tests, we would gather at a family restaurant for study sessions.

We talk about who is dating who, who likes who, and so on.

I started working part-time after high school, bought the phone I wanted, and nodded in satisfaction.

I gradually got a good feeling with a girl I met at my part-time job, confessed to her myself, we became lovers, and went on dates to various places.

Movie theaters, shopping, aquariums, festivals, amusement parks, arcade games, the ocean, everywhere we went we had fun, and we were embarrassed to say that we would be together forever…

After that, I went to college and immersed myself in my hobbies, became a member of society and took care of my seniors and bosses, cared for my juniors, and really, really enjoyed myself…

I knew this was a dream.

Something that had never existed in my life, but that I was desperate to have.

It is what I dreamed of.

That’s why this is a dream.

If I try to grab it, it disappears.

It should be a happy dream, but it’s sad because I know it’s a dream and I know I’ll never have it again.

And so, little by little, the happy dream fades away.

Obliviously, like a bubble, nothing remains there… I don’t care what it is, any one of them, even just one, I just want to get it, and I know it’s useless, but I’m reaching for it again…

Someone grabbed my hand.

As if guided, I open my eyelids thinly in my muddled consciousness.

「You’re awake, Sylph-chan. Are you feeling any pain?」

「Yes…」

A pretty, bloodied girl who speaks to me gently.

The seemingly bizarre appearance of the girl made me feel strangely at ease.

I am sure I was still dreaming.

I’m sure I was still dreaming, because her image is blurry and quickly disappearing, and most importantly, I’ve never been able to reach her in my life…