NOVEL WEB Chapter 130
The Witch of Light is dead, and just in time, a bunch of mascots are swarming in.
Some of the mascots are overlapping on my legs, which are slow to recover even with my healing magic, so they’re activating their own healing magic.
Even so, the time difference isn’t much, but with the witches appearing in droves now, they probably want to send me to the next battlefield as quickly as possible.
It’s not like there’s a need to rush that much, though.
“…It’s done. How long will the recovery take?”
“For a scale like this… it’ll take about 6 hours for everyone to recover!”
Even for this scale, 6 hours… I have no idea how much destruction has been caused.
But judging by the fact that no one’s complaining, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
“Is that so? What’s the damage range?”
“No problem at all! It’s within expectations!”
“Good.”
Then… I guess I’ll go catch the next witch.
The next destination is… China, right?
I’ve received the coordinates, so I’ll open a [Gate] there… Ugh, it’s hot.
What the hell is happening in China?
“……”
This is… a pile of corpses?
And the magical energy reactions coming from these corpses… they’re all superhumans.
Not to mention the countless metal fragments and still-warm bodies…
Are they seriously just throwing themselves in, thinking they can handle it as it’s happening?!
What the hell are those lunatics doing?!
“This is insane…”
Sigh… Well, there’s no helping it.
Looking at the scorched marks everywhere, the next witch is probably one who controls fire.
Well, if that’s the case, I’ve dealt with Hatred enough times, so it should be easier than the Witch of Light.
She was a typical straight-line attacker who relied on brute force, but her techniques gave me a bit of trouble.
Still, that shouldn’t be an issue this time.
This one’s definitely a pure firepower-type witch.
By the way, maybe it’s because of the witches, but I feel much lighter now.
Especially after encountering two fast ones, I’ve gotten a lot faster myself.
Plus, there were quite a few techniques I’ve never seen before… especially that 「Tachyon」 thing. That was a bit surprising.
Who would’ve thought she’d attack by winding back time?
And the fact that it feeds back into the current state was kinda creepy.
…Anyway, the monsters here are incredibly aggressive.
The Witch of Light’s side was more organized.
Well, I crushed them all with 「Domain Collapse」.
If they’re going to be wiped out by just that, they shouldn’t have even bothered.
“…Huh?”
That’s… no, that’s not sunlight.
Looking at how it’s growing… it’s probably a ridiculously huge fireball…!
“Oh my, hello there?”
“…So you’re the witch of this place.”
“Hmph… Well, I’ll forgive your rudeness. I am the Witch of Fire, Blaze Storm. Originally, I was part of a twin duo, but my sister, Blaze Blade, refused… Oh my, I didn’t need to say that, did I?”
“You talk too much. I’m 「Rampage」. You’ve heard of me, right?”
“Oh ho… So you’re that Rampage? Let me welcome you with this warm little gift!”
“That’s too big for a gift. 「Ether Blast」.”
Seriously… I don’t know why these witches just attack right away.
And her weapon is still a staff, but the energy blade itself… did she summon it?
She seems to know close combat to some extent, but her basic strategy is firepower-based, as I expected.
So, these guys probably devastated the area by pouring out an insane amount of magic.
“Hehe, take this!”
“Who would want your gift?”
…This one suddenly changed the power of her magic the moment I arrived.
The destroyed area was only about one region, but now each spell is at a level that could burn an entire continent.
And even that’s a compressed form.
If she expanded the range efficiently, she could probably roast the entire surface of the Earth in an instant.
Damn it… Being a firepower-type is actually a disadvantage now…!
I have to intercept everything while fighting!
Plus, she’s got excellent control over external magical energy, so she doesn’t even go berserk properly!
“Hmm? Not bad. Just as I’ve heard…!”
Still, it’s a good thing I’ve had real combat experience with the Witch of Light using the Cross Swords of Light.
I’ll intercept all the magic falling to the ground with these, and cut through the rest with my light swords.
This should work for now.
With 10 Cross Swords of Light, I should be able to manage.
“Kuh… The compatibility isn’t good. I didn’t expect you to counter like this!”
“Yet, you’re quite skilled with a spear, aren’t you?”
“Well… it’s for self-defense!”
Hmm… I tried to destroy all her magic and charge in for a big slash, but she blocked it easily.
I expected it, but I didn’t think she’d be so good with a spear.
She seems way better at it than Diamond Dust.
Her stance and the way she swings it are refined enough to be considered battle-hardened.
As expected of a top-tier witch…
Well, fine.
Then, I’ll just turn her magic into my own and blast it back.
I’ll keep deflecting her spells with my sword, triggering a berserk state, and once it’s mine, I’ll wrap it around my sword…!
“「Ether… Blast」!!”
“Ugh…?!”
How’s that…! A reflected attack with 「Ether Blast」 mixed with your own magic!
“…You’re doing something interesting. Then I’ll just pour out more than you can handle!”
“Then I’ll just handle that much.”
“What…?!”
As expected of a magic bombardment-type… An insane number of spells are pouring out at high speed, but there’s no way I can’t deflect them.
Why do you think I’ve been training so hard in swordsmanship?
…Besides, I can use this to land a pretty powerful attack on her.
The question is whether my light swords can handle it… Well, I won’t know until I try.
Even if they break, they’ll regenerate quickly anyway.
……[State of Extreme Focus].
Fireballs, fire orbs, fire blades… all sorts of miscellaneous spells are raining down.
I deflect them one by one with my light swords, triggering a berserk state.
Holding the sword with both hands, I twist it diagonally for one, quickly move to the left and spin it around for two, then slash upward to the left for three.
I keep moving in three dimensions, deflecting all the spells that seem to stop.
I’m pushing my body to its limits to maximize speed.
Unlike the Witch of Light, the Witch of Fire can commit mass slaughter in an instant… so I need to kill her quickly, even if it’s a bit reckless.
“H-How…?! How can you…?!”
“Take this. 「Ether Blast」.”
Close combat or not, I triggered a berserk state with all the magic she poured out, wrapped it around my light sword, compressed it with 「Ether Blast」, and launched it at the Witch of Fire.
Before the explosion even sounded, my ears were ringing severely, and my muscles and blood vessels started bursting.
I don’t want to die from excessive bleeding, so I immediately cast recovery magic and slowly descended.
As I did, I watched the Witch of Fire, who was so charred she might as well be black, fall.
Even in that state, powerful magical girls often survive, so there’s no reason a witch wouldn’t.
After all, witches are just corrupted magical girls, so the chances of her being alive are high.
“……”
The Witch of Fire isn’t moving yet.
Well, she just took a massive hit out of nowhere.
But even after compressing it, it almost spilled over the intended range…
It’s a good thing it exploded in the air; if it had been on the ground, there could’ve been casualties.
“……Gah, haah…!!”
“…She’s alive.”
It’s a bit disappointing that she’s still alive and I can’t finish her off.
I need some recovery for my blood vessels and muscles before I can move again.
…Ah, for that, I can use these Cross Swords of Light…!
“Guh, uwaaaah!!!”
“…?!”
Damn it… I missed my chance to finish her off because I got distracted for a moment…!
And that berserk state… what the hell is that?
She’s burning herself up like that… what is she doing?!
“Uuuu…!! Uwaaaah!!!”
“……”
…This is, what should I call it… a lava human? A flame human?
Whatever… it’s not even a proper body anymore.
Is this her final form or something…?
“I’ll… definitely… kill you…!!”
She’s gone from a magic bombardment-type to a full-body flaming berserker monster.
But she’s only got one spear, while I have one sword and 10 Cross Swords of Light as control blades.
This is my overwhelming victory.
My recovery’s almost done, so I should start moving again.
“Uraaah!!”
“Tch…”
This guy’s movements are faster and more precise than I thought.
Is she really in a death throes berserk state?
“…Hmm.”
“Graah!!”
…But in the end, it’s hard for her to keep up with my movements.
I’ve restricted her with the Cross Swords of Light, but even considering that, she’s just a spear user.
Of course, her weapon and body are filled with firepower, so touching her is dangerous, but her skill is at the level of a master, not the extreme.
First, I’ll knock her spear away to disable her…!
“Guh…?!”
Good, next… I’ll destroy the energy blade, recreate it, trigger a berserk state, and slash…!
“Kah… haah…!!”
It’s something I thought of on the spot, but if I trigger a berserk state while the energy blade is erupting, I can deliver a slash with power beyond 「Ether Blast」…
This might actually be quite practical.
I’ll need to get used to doing this with every slash, but it shouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, her body twisting like that means it’s a good chance for a big hit.
Here… yeah, I’ll test out any new techniques that come to mind…!
“Huff…!”
I gather all the Cross Swords of Light into my light sword and fill it with ether.
Then, I erupt the energy blade while triggering a berserk state.
And… at the same time, I charge 「Ether Blast」 into the sword and deliver a two-handed slash…!!
“……”
……That was… a bit too much.
I can’t believe I just wiped out an entire region, to an unknown depth.
And I even slashed diagonally and weakly to minimize the impact on Earth.
Plus, I properly limited the range.
If I hadn’t limited it and slashed properly, I might’ve split the Earth even from the ground.
I guess… using the Third Ability without restrictions on the ground isn’t a good idea.
“Ah, ahh, nooo~?! What is this~?!”
“Oh, you’re here? Any reaction from the Witch of Fire?”
“Ah, no! B-but~?! What on earth happened here~?!”
“Ah, well… I was just testing a new technique and almost split the Earth.”
“Please don’t do such dangerous things~!! The ground is about to collapse from the hole you made, so we need to start emergency repairs~!!”
“Sorry. Any casualties?”
“Not yet, but if the repairs are delayed, it could become an emergency~!!”
“Ah, I see… Really sorry.”
“Ah, ahh, how deep did you go~?! The mantle’s gone too~!!”
This is… I’ve really caused trouble for the mascots.
But well, I’ve cleanly taken care of the Witch of Fire, so that’s that.
Right… Next is South America, specifically western Brazil, right?
Just in case, I should finish recovering before going.
But with the recovery mascots swarming around and taking care of me professionally, I should be able to leave soon.
Hmm… I wonder what kind of witch is next…