CH 108

Chapter 3 — Dry scrape, burn and perforate! • Episode 3–4 — Witch Cup ⑬

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

In an image projected on a huge screen set up in the stadium venue, Tyrant Sylph, hit by a ferocious blizzard, began to respond with Field Magic.

「Do your best, Sylph-chan—!!」

「Do it—!! You can do it—!!」

「You two are a little too loud. Ugh!」

As the match approached its climax, the spectators’ spirits rose as the fighters began to exchange loud blows. Caught in the act, Elephant cheered more loudly than ever before, and Press made a megaphone with both hands and shouted loudly, as if to say, “You can’t lose!”

Blade is embarrassed and shrinks back to warn the two of them, but they are not the only ones shouting. There are many fairies in the surrounding audience who are shouting Yellow or yapping lightly, and they don’t stand out in any particular way.

Sylph enters the wind giant as if boarding a robot cockpit, and Permafrost launches a large-scale magic in response.

「It’s Robo Syl-chan! There’s a Tornado Mixer!!」

「What a silly thing to say…」

「? Sylph-chan is not a robot okay?」

「You don’t have to take it seriously.」

Blade also felt as if she had stepped into a robot, so it wasn’t that she didn’t understand what Press was saying, but Elephant, who had no experience with robot fiction, didn’t understand the significance of suddenly referring to Sylph as a robot, and had a question mark on her face.

『Here it is! Contender Permafrost’s own specialty!! It’s Gatling Maximum Drill Icicle! In contrast, Contender Tyrant Sylph also countered with Sextal Tornado Mixer!! Such tremendous power! This is the battle between Magical Girls at the top of the Natural Lineage!! One after another, the big moves were unleashed, with neither side taking a single step back!』

『Contender Tyrant Sylph was wary of Contender Permafrost’s freezing magic, so she’s applying the giant’s magic like armor. So far, Contender Permafrost have no record of using Extra Freeze against large external enemies, so I think it’s a moderately good way to land the job.』

「By Extra Freeze, Extend-san said she was beaten without any help…」

「It sounded like she didn’t have time to avoid it, but the fact that she didn’t use it means Syl-chan’s countermeasure was the right one.」

「Sylph-chan is smart! She can see through that much!」

「Why are you acting so she’s high and mighty?」

While she was poking fun at Elephant, who was sniffling and puffing her chest out, Blade was inwardly impressed by Sylph’s shrewdness. She realized that it was probably a measure that she came up with based on the information she had received from their joint fight on the Sakira Town case.

『Hey there, Contender Tyrant Sylph! She went to hit her directly with Empty Adult, but to our surprise, Contender Permafrost also brought out Looseless Adult!! It’s a titanic showdown! An epic fistfight has begun!』

『They must’ve decided that a large scale magic shootout wasn’t going to get them anywhere. But unfortunately, it seems that Contender Permafrost also had the same kind of magic. Contender Permafrost is famous for the variety of magic she can use, but she may have some magic hidden away that she hasn’t shown off yet!』

「Awawa, oh no, Sylph-chan! Oh no, girls don’t hit each other…!」

「Ele-chan, who can punch a girl in the face without hesitation, says that?」

「Hey!? Why did you know that!?」

「Eh? I’ve heard from Shadow-paisen, why are you in such a hurry?」

「Ah, ah— I see. Yes, I know that.」

Blade, who mistakenly thought she was talking about the other day when Elephant punched her in the face and lectured her about the incident, turned red and started to get impatient, but she quickly realized that she had been mistaken and misled her.

It’s not that she was embarrassed by the beating, but that she was embarrassed to have been exposed in such a disgusting manner by ranting and raving. Since Sylph and Press must’ve been in training and no one saw them, Elephant must be the only one who knows about her own ugliness, and she isn’t bothered by it because she feels that Elephant is just fine with it.

『They’re like a surprise box of Magical Girls! My heart is pounding with excitement to see what kind of magic will pop out next! Oh? However? Contender Permafrost jumps off Looseless Adult! There is no sign of a chase! She watch with smiles as the giants exchange blows and large-scale magic!!』

『With magic that large, it’s possible that she have her hands full just controlling two of them. Contender Tyrant Sylph only use magic for the giant and tornadoes.』

『Here’s the video switched! It appears that the Extend Traveler and Rabbitfoot players have started their encounter!! For Contender Extend Traveler, will she get her revenge～!?』

『In the first battle, Contender Extend Traveler was wounded, but I wonder how far she would go to bite it when she is at full strength.』

「Eh!? It would be killing to switch there, you know!?」

「But I’m also curious about Extend-san’s revenge match.」

「It’s not Paisen who will just get beat up! She’s going to do something interesting.」

Elephant, who had been happy or sad at each of Sylph’s combat actions, drops her shoulders with an expression like the end of the world. Of course, she was also rooting for Extend, but right now she was more concerned with how the battle for Sylph was going.

『Contender Extend Traveler, forcefully swung her huge left arm through the air! Is this a calculation to smash Contender Rabbitfoot by trees over a wide area? Contender Rabbitfoot, however, avoided this with a big jump! Contender Extend Traveler lost her left arm at the cost of becoming huge, but was the strategy a failure!?』

『I doubt it. Contender Extend Traveler understand that the risk of physical extension is high. It’s hard to imagine that she would bet on one or the other as soon as they started fighting, so she must’ve had some other goal in mind.』

『What kind of it is that!?』

『A quick thought would be to change the terrain. In the first round, Contender Extend Traveler was completely beaten by Contender Rabbitfoot’s Pinball, and I think she was trying to drag her down to level ground.』

『Contender Extend Traveler, pointing the tip of her hand spear at Contender Rabbitfoot, who has jumped into the air above her! And then～! She’s growing! She’s stretching! The sharp tip is closing in to skewer Contender Rabbitfoot in the air!』

『I see, so it was a three-strikes-with-one-stone attack that not only changed the terrain but also blocked escape routes. But if Contender Extend Traveler thought that this is the way to decide, she was a little uninformed.』

『Contender Rabbitfoot! It looked as if all was lost, but then she kicked the sky and landed a tremendous kick to the ground! Contender Extend Traveler player just barely succeeded in evading! She seems to have hit the magic bombardment at very close range as it was!! Comment-san, what on earth did Contender Rabbitfoot do!?』

『No matter how you look at it, it’s that kind of magic. Contender Rabbitfoot can use magic to kick the moon. It’s not well known because there are so few opportunities to use that magic when fighting outside enemies, but I’m sure because I’m an old fan of hers.』

『I’ll leave aside the surprising fact that Comment-san is an old fan of Contender Rabbitfoot! No matter how great the Contender Rabbitfoot’s jumping ability is, she can’t reach the moon, right!? And yet, what does it mean that she kicked the moon!?』

『Instead of kicking the moon directly, she kicks the moon reflected in the sky. It doesn’t have to be the sky, it could be the surface of the water or a mirror, but in other words, she can use the imaginary moon as a foothold.』

『What a surprise～!? Contender Rabbitfoot, I had no idea that such outrageous magic was hidden until this very last minute!』

『It’s not that convenient magic, so I think it’s not so much that it was hidden as that there was no opportunity to use it. Even if she can kick the imaginary moon, it’s basically above her head, and the only way to use it would be to go from the top down, as in this case, or to jump over the surface of the water. Well, that’s why she put the back of Contender Extended Traveler like this.』

『I see then! I guess it’s time to clear the dust that has risen from Contender Rabbitfoot’s blow and Contender Extend Traveler’s bombardment,—— Here the video switched again! What!? While we were looking away for a moment, Contender Tyrant Sylph was completely iced from her Empty Adult! What in the world is going on here!?』

「Another good situation to switch it up.」

「Ah～!? Sylph-chan!?」

「She’d been iced over beautifully…」

Blade, who had been watching with bated breath as Extend and Rabbitfoot attacked and defended each other, unwittingly relaxed her shoulders and let out a breath.

On the contrary, Elephant, who had been cheering for Extend-san to do her best, screamed in distress when she saw Sylph trapped in the ice at the moment the screen switched. Press cowered her shoulders while rebuking Elephant.

『I’m surprised. I had thought for sure that Extra Freeze couldn’t be used against an opponent of this magnitude… Perhaps Contender Tyrant Sylph had the same idea, but it seems that Contender Permafrost wasn’t serious until that.』

「That magic is not fair!」

「But then I wonder why she doesn’t use it to take down Diests.」

「I think she’s licking her chops. I mean, the Ice Witch is like a little bitch to look at.」

「Don’t be rude to her when she haven’t even met you.」

Compared to the earlier battle against Red Ball that had flattened Tyrant Sylph, Elephant was perhaps less shocked, and didn’t seem to lose her mind or cover her eyes, but she was still complaining like a child that it wasn’t fair and unfair.

Blade, having reached the point of resignation that there was nothing she could say to Elephant now, questioned Press and warned her of her excessive language.

『Strong! Too strong! Witches of the same Natural Lineage are like babies! Contender Permafrost was to secure the next crystal with a comfortable victory——』

『No, hold on. I’m afraid the fight is not over yet.』

『W–What!? As Contender Permafrost was about to run, something shot past her from behind! It’s Contender Tyrant Sylph!! Contender Tyrant Sylph, breaking through the trapped ice and readying her special weapon! The wind had not yet stopped!!』

「Sylph-chan! Wow, you’re amazing, Sylph-chan! You won!」

After witnessing this brilliant come-from-behind victory, Elephant turned into a Sylph-chan awesome bot.

『So that’s what this is all about. Apparently, the strategy of protecting herself with Empty Adult wasn’t entirely pointless. It’s true that the surface was frozen, but the ice didn’t extend to the inside. Contender Permafrost must’ve been unaware of this and mistakenly thought the fight was over, exposing the gap.』

『This victory was won by the persistence of Contender Tyrant Sylph, who didn’t give up until the very end! Contender Tyrant Sylph, looking around for a moment, then put her hand on the crystal! She seems to be on the lookout for other witches!』

「It’s a big deal to break the magic that Extend-san got one-sided.」

「I believe Syl-chan is ranked 14th in the pecking order and the Ice Witch is 5th? That’s a big bite!」

Blade and Press don’t know exactly how strong Permafrost is, but that she’s still strong enough to take the teeth out of Extend, who’s a senior who they know well, being one of the top five strongest Witches in the top echelon of Magical Girls, they could well understand how valuable the victory in Sylph’s grasp was.

『This is a natural reaction, since the Contender Wigs Crosseau who secured the crystal in the south-central tier is just around the corner. It will be in time to dye the crystals in position, but they’ll bump into each other.』

『After the strong opponent Contender Permafrost, whom she defeated after a fierce battle, we can’t take our eyes off her next opponent, Contender Wigs Crosseau! The video switches again to Contender Extend Traveler! Contender Extend Traveler secured the crystals in the north inner layer! It seems that it was the indomitable challenger, Contender Extend Traveler, who won the revenge match!』

『It was unfortunate that the fights occurred at the same time. We are anxious to see how the fateful battle with Contender Rabbitfoot came to an end, but we will find out in the video recording of this match from various angles that will be released at a later date. We are preparing various lineups such as a bargain box containing a compilation of each battle and a guess-exclusive video closely following a single Contender.』

『That’s a natural advertising! Comment-san, you are a good direct marketer! As it was, the Yellow Team unexpectedly fell two pieces short at this end of the day! The remaining Contender Red Ball is are unlikely to be dropped, but she will face a tough fight!』

「I see that Extend-san’s battle has already finished… I’ll buy the video.」

「I want to see it too! Let’s all pool our money together to buy it! Okay!」

「I don’t want to, I want to keep it close at hand.」

「Eh! What about Ele-chan?」

「I’ll buy my own because I want one for myself.」

「Uuh, heartless… Fine, fine! I’ll also buy it myself!」

The commentary fairies were disappointed, but apparently it was a tailwind from a promotional point of view that the battle occurred at the same time, generating cards that could not be seen in real time.

Blade was considering purchasing the bargain box containing the entire battle, and Elephant had decided to purchase the Sylph close-up video.

『It looks like she has secured the north-middle crystal and was now heading north-inner, but Contender Extend Traveler has started moving southeast, so it doesn’t look like they’re going to bump into each other.』

『Contender Ex–Magna was quietly taking the crystals in the outer layer by the southwest! Since the only other Magical Girl in the vicinity is Contender Wigs Crosseau, is she going to continue to take the Red Team’s position until the end of the match!?』

『With five minutes remaining, the number of small crystals in each team is 4 for Blue Team, 9 for Red Team, and 7 for Yellow Team, including those being secured by Contender Tyrant Sylph. Even if the two Yellow Team members could be revived, they wouldn’t be able to get to the other team’s crystal in time to take it, so only Contender Red Ball can really interfere. The only thing that Contender Red Ball can take away from this position is the Red Team’s crystal. As Live-san said, there are no Witches in the vicinity who can stop Contender Ex–Magna, so the Red team is expected to lose a lot of crystals in the last five minutes of the game. It’s not yet clear that they’ll be able to maintain their current lead. I would say that the rest of the match will depend on how the battle between Contenders Wigs Crosseau and Tyrant Sylph goes. If Contender Tyrant Sylph loses here, Contender Wigs Crosseau will take the Blue Team’s crystals and Contender Extend Traveler will take the Yellow Team’s crystals, which will almost guarantee their victory. Conversely, if Contender Tyrant Sylph wins, the Blue Team will have a huge advantage over the other two teams, as Contender Extend Traveler will be the only player on the Red Team who can interfere with the situation. The Yellow Team’s best chance of winning is for the Red Team and the Blue Team to fight for each other’s crystals, and Contender Red Ball will take the red team’s crystals while the Blue Team attempts to take the Red Team’s crystals.』

『My head is spinning…』

『That means every team still has a chance!』

『I see! That is very easy to understand! Nhn!? Wait a second, Comment-san!! Contender Doppelganger was coming over!!』