Seraphim is a Bystander

First Battle with a Phantom
 
The moment I heard Master’s voice, my fluttering excitement vanished, and my mind sharpened.
Following her gaze, I spotted a shadow in the sky.
Shielding my eyes from the brightness, I looked more closely—a massive hawk-like phantom was circling above, as if locking on to the vehicle carrying the Ichijou family and the escorts surrounding it.

“This is Morimiya. Flying-type phantom spotted. I’ll engage.”
While she calmly reported the situation to the others, I began turning over strategies in my head for how to deal with the phantom.
It’s flying way up there… Fighting something airborne is tricky.
Should I try luring it down? But how? I don’t have anything in my arsenal for that.
What about fighting it in the air? But I don’t even know how strong it is—and I’ve never fought anything midair before…

“Aoi, what’ll it be? Want to handle this one?”
Even as I hesitated, Master had already drawn her scythe and was ready for battle, turning toward me with a question.
…I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but I might not get another shot at this.
“I’ll do it!”

The words left my mouth before I had a chance to second-guess them.
Hearing me, Master gave me a firm slap on the back and nudged me forward.
“Fuuuuh…”
I took a deep breath, stepped forward, and began channeling my ability through the ring on my hand.
As the scythe materialized in my grip, I locked eyes with the hawk circling above.
Noticing my focus, the hawk shifted its flight pattern, clearly watching me in return.
…Alright, this might just work. Let’s go!

“Hah!”
With my body enhancement still running since we entered the forest, I leapt toward the hawk.
It swerved to avoid my trajectory—but I could reach it if I adjusted my path!
“Hup!”

“Skree?!”
From my free hand, I fired a burst of blue flame, changing my direction midair.
That much flame would normally be a strain on stamina, but thankfully I’ve always had plenty of power to spare.
…Thanks, Mom and Dad.
Caught completely off guard, the hawk froze, exposing its belly in ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a vulnerable pose.
With both hands now gripping the scythe, I swung hard at the exposed underside.

“SKRAAH!!”
“…Huh?”
The feedback from the strike felt far lighter than I expected—nowhere near the resistance I’d felt in simulations.
Maybe it was just a shallow hit since I was midair?
I looked again—the hawk was already falling, bleeding as it tumbled toward the ground.
“Huh…”

That… was easier than I thought it would be.
But then I realized—gravity was pulling me down too.
Looking below, I saw Master already waiting beneath me, having anticipated the landing spot.
…Oh no. At this angle, I’m going to slam into a tree.
“Aoi—want me to catch you~?”
As I tumbled through the air, Master called out teasingly.
Should I let her catch me? Nah—wait, I can use that trick again.

“I’m good! Hup!”
Calling back, I adjusted my posture, deconstructed the scythe, and blasted flame from my open hand again—
…only to find myself spinning.
Ah—yeah, without something to counter the force, it makes sense I’d start spinning like this.
Still, it’s not out of control. I can manage this.

“Hrrgh!”
“Whoa, nice one.”
Using my enhanced strength, I forced my body into a controlled landing.
Master clapped softly nearby, clearly amused by the spectacle.

I ignored her and scanned for the hawk.
It didn’t take long to find.
I walked over to confirm—its breathing had stopped, and it was clearly dead.
…So even with a light impact, that was enough?
As I watched it dissolve into glowing particles, Master walked up beside me.
“So, how was it? Your first real phantom battle?”

“Honestly… it didn’t feel all that different from the simulations.”
“That so? Well, it wasn’t a particularly strong one anyway. Let’s move on.”
“Got it.”

Just like with the deer-like one before, she sent in her report and returned to the route.
After taking down the hawk, we didn’t run into any other phantoms ourselves, only hearing reports of others engaging as we exited the phantom-dense zone.
…Still, I’m really glad I got to fight that hawk.