CH 60

Chapter 2 — Expand, my world! • Episode 2-6 • Recapture ②

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

After watching as the whirlpool-encircled Diest was completely scraped away and disappeared, Marine, a Magical Girl in a pale one-piece dress, released her magic. A large amount of water, which had been floating in the air with a loud noise, disappears as if melting into the sky.

「Press The Finger.」

「Wha—— Guh!」

It was not that she was careless. That’s why she was able to avoid the blow, which would normally have pierced a vital spot, and only managed to leave a small hole in her costume.

「Tsk, Object Sea.」

The moment Marine recognized the fact that she was being attacked, she re-activated the magic that she had once deactivated. Marine had expected that they would eventually set out to reclaim this land, but she had not expected that they would make their first move and aim for the steepest spot in addition to the surprise attack.

Although disputes between Magical Girls have always occurred to a greater or lesser degree, it is only natural that there is an unspoken agreement not to let them escalate to the exchange of lives. The only time it cannot be defended is when the conflict gets too heated, or when the other party is a madman.

「I’m going to make you regret not finishing the job with the blow you just gave me.」

She knew from the trajectory of the attack that the assailant was above her.

Marine ran up the tall building, placing a large amount of water around herself, and as expected, a Magical Girl in Gothic Lolita was waiting for her there.

「Stupid idiot, now that was done off the cuff on purpose. Press The Hand!」

「You’re losing too soon. Vortex.」

Since they both knew what they wanted, there was no room for unnecessary conversation except to provoke.

The pressure of Press with her right hand thrust forward and the whirlpool released from the golden spear held by Marine collided violently, and the water that flew off scattered around the area in droplets.

「Rain Salt.」

「Tsk, Press The Hand!!」

Some of the splashed water crystallizes white in the air and falls toward Press like rain. Press kicks them away with the pressure of her left hand, but some of the undispersed parts cut through Press’s costume one after another, creating a red stain.

「Snake Bite.」

「Nhaaah!?」

Simultaneously with Marine’s chanting, the water that had been wetting the rooftop changed into the shape of a snake and crawled towards Press, trying to entangle with her. With her hands already full, Press, unable to resist this, leapt and jumped off the rooftop. The sea serpent and salt spear chase after her, but she kicks them away with the pressure she has activated and then points both hands to the ground.

Seeing Press slowly land on the ground as the momentum of their fall weakened, Marine gave an impressed shout.

「Ohhh, can you change the reaction at will? That’s an easy-to-use magic.」

「How many spells can you even use? That’s unfair!」

「I wouldn’t tell you a thing! Vortex.」

Press ran to avoid the whirlpool magic that was released. Using pressure magic at this point would only result in a repeat of what happened earlier and would be meaningless.

The number of magic spells a Magical Girl can use at the same time varies from person to person, and although this number can be increased through training, the limit also varies from person to person. For example, in the case of Press, only two magics can be used at the same time, and this is also true for Elephant. Blade is able to use up to three as a result of her training, but most Magical Girls are able to use two to three, and it is quite rare for them to be able to use four or more at the same time.

That’s why Press spoke of it as unfair. In the current offensive, Marine used four magic spells at the same time: Magic to create and maintain a Small Ocean, Magic to turn its Waters into a Whirlpool, Magic to turn it into a Salt Spear, and Magic to turn it into a Sea Serpent. The number of magic spells that can be used at the same time is directly related to the number of moves, which is a big advantage in the battle against Magical Girls.

On top of that, Marine is a Magical Girl from Natural Lineage, which means that she can produce considerable firepower.

A powerful attacker with a combination of moves and firepower, that is the Magical Girl Marine. She is extremely high-ranking among Phase 2 Magical Girls, and her combat power exceeds even that of Dryad. In terms of power as a pure Magical Girl, excluding Witches, she is the strongest in the current Sakira Town and Junkoi Town.

「If you haven’t even opened the Second Gate, you are too short to deal with me. But even if you apologize now, I won’t forgive you. You can sleep now knowing that I am sorry that you tried to kill me.」

「Well, on the other hand, it was probably a good thing that I was the one you’re fighting with. If it had been anyone other than me, you probably would have lost.」

There is a great distance between Marine, who shoots magic from the rooftop of the apartment building, and Press, who runs on the ground, and they cannot reach each other’s words unless they raise their voices.

That said, their remarks did not mesh in an interesting way.

「This is the first time I’ve shown it to people, and I just want you to sob and thank me for it. Thunderbolt.」

At the same time that Press’s hands were covered by the mechanical cuirass, the whirlpool that had been closing in behind her exploded. It was as abrupt and instantaneous as if she had hit a bomb that had been planted there.

「What the heck?」

Even Marine was surprised at this. If she could do such a thing, why didn’t she use it in the earlier attack? Above all, why was she saving her special weapon? The jet-black cuirass that wraps both of Press’s hands is definitely a special weapon. Otherwise, she would not have equipped it at this time.

However, even though she was surprised, it was only to the extent that the small animals they tried to bring to their knees put up a minor resistance that they did not expect, and just because she was a Phase 2 Magical Girl does not mean that she can overcome the great wall between her and Marine.

As a gesture of mercy, Marine decided to show her the difference in power and remind her that her resistance was futile.

「Object Ocean.」

Several times as much seawater as before appears, clinging to Marine’s body and moving like running water. It is Marine’s passive magic that allows her to grab water and stand on it, and she can also fly using the water current in this way. But it doesn’t take that much seawater to fly. Marine diverted all of it to attack, leaving a little seawater for her own transportation.

「Vortex Mixer.」

Summoning more seawater naturally consumes more magic power. Marine, a Magical Girl with a history of success, is not so reckless as to consume all her magical power with this one blow, but she still puts in enough magical power that she would not normally need it if she were just defeating Press.

Marine herself knew it was futile, but it was too pitiful to watch Press get her hopes up any further. So she chose to smash her as hard as she was allowed to right now.

Like a local tsunami, the swirling mass of water hit Press. Just before it landed on Press, the whirlpool exploded again as before, smashing all the buildings that were between her and Press and engulfing them in its vortex. The huge whirlpools are not shattered by a single explosion, but the violent blasts continue to sound over and over again in rapid succession, each time dissipating a portion of the whirlpool.

It took only a few seconds of time, but amazingly, Press completely blocked the crushing whirlpool. But the good fight ended there.

「Kuh, you! Again! Ugh——!」

Although Marine thought it would end up in a crushing whirlpool, she manipulated the water from the explosion and gradually gathered it near Press, just in case. Then, at the moment when she was momentarily distracted from the crushing whirlpool, the water enveloped Press as if it were a reenactment of that day.

Once this happened, it was over. She cannot use magic in the water. No, to be precise, she can’t chant, but it’s the same thing because Magical Girls cannot use magic without chanting.

It was a two-step plan, just in case, but Marine didn’t want to use this means if possible. That is why she went to the trouble of using a large amount of water, which was unnecessary. If the plan was to neutralize her by this means from the beginning, it was fine to use Vortex.

The most reliable way to incapacitate a Magical Girl in Marine’s hand is to suffocate her with water in this way, but Marine tried to avoid this as much as possible. She used it on her first move that day because she needed to end it without allowing any resistance. She wouldn’t have done that otherwise.

As for why Marine didn’t want to resort to this means, it was simply because she felt sorry for the other party. Shadow had been plugged, but Marine’s words that day were no lie. Although Marine herself has never experienced it, she said that suffocation is an agonizing experience. Who would want to use such a method?

「Sorry. Please forgive me for my lack of strength…」

「——Don’t you dare think you’ve won!!」

Convinced from previous experience that there would be no counterattack from this position, Marine had bypassed it and approached Press. That’s why she was astonished that the girl who was not supposed to come out was out of water polo, stiffened, and exposed a big gap.

She got out of the water polo—— No, Press, released by the water flattening to the earth as it slammed down, held up her hand to the Magical Girl in front of her as she landed. A beat later, Marine tried to move, but it was too late. Normally, the evasion would’ve been in time for Press to complete her chanting. But the magic was released in an instant in the silence.

「Ah——— ——」

Marine’s body, which had been pushed into the air by the intense pressure, received a tremendous shock at the same time it hit something. Marine is blown away and rolls on the ground with an inaudible voice. Already Marine is unconscious, eventually throwing her limbs to the earth without effort, her eyes white.

As Press approached her, Marine was naturally wary of invisible bombs and used water to remove her, but she wasn’t able to clean up the objects placed a short distance away. But the Magical Girl Press, knew the location of those bombs until the end. So at the end, she pressured Marine out toward that bomb.

The bomb is compressed air.

Marine initially thought that Press could only generate pressure at the tips of her palms and fingers, but she was wrong. Once Marine also became aware that there was an invisible bomb, she changed her assumption that she created pressure only at the tip of her hand, but she didn’t realize what the bomb was until she saw it.

「That’s a foul thing to do to a Magical Girl～」

Press used a cloth she had lying around to restrain Marine, gagging her and covering her mouth. Just by being thus muzzled, the Magical Girl would be incapacitated unless she had used magic beforehand.

Elephant had escaped Shadow’s restraint by using a third hand beforehand, but that would not have worked if the opponent had been Marine.

「Well, I guess we’re both foul-mouthed.」

Press carried Marine, who was tied up, and walked away humming in a good mood.

As Press muttered during the battle, surely this battle wouldn’t have been won if it were not for Press. Marine had plenty of time to spare until the end, and she was able to corner Press that well with her trump cards preserved.

In Sakira Town and Junkoi Town, excluding Witches, Marine was certainly the strongest as a “Pure” Magical Girl, and her strength wasn’t by any means a fluke.