"I think she was fighting some strange guy..."
She had actually noticed long ago that someone seemed to have been following their group the entire way.
But since Chu Chen had said nothing, she had not mentioned it either.
Now it seemed Nangong Natsuki had taken Misaka Mikoto and the other two to deal with that person.
Just as Patchouli had thought, a nearly one-sided battle was unfolding in the sky.
Chains glowing with a faint purple light instantly surrounded the girl before them. At the same time, rumorous lightning flickered along the chains, forming a wall of lightning that almost completely enclosed her.
The girl looked almost exactly like Tohsaka Rin, though her outfit was far bolder. Yet not a speck of filth stained her body, and she exuded an unusual air of nobility.
She held an enormous, magnificent bow that also looked like some kind of flying craft.
"I didn't expect there to be people capable of wielding such power. You look like foreign humans, hmm. That little girl over there should be a witch, but do you know the consequences of opposing a goddess?"
Arrogant words came from the girl's mouth. Her eyes were instantly replaced by gold, and immense magical power spilled forth as golden arrows of light shattered the lightning wall before striking the chains.
Natsuki's expression did not change at all. Instead, she simply waved her right hand slightly.
A massive black hole appeared in the space before them, swallowing every golden arrow of light.
"A goddess's attack... then I'll return it to you!"
What immediately startled the girl—Ishtar—was the countless golden arrows of light shooting violently out of the black hole.
—They were unmistakably her attacks!
"Waaahhhh—"
Ishtar panicked and hurriedly dodged her own attacks, but—
"Hehe... got you locked on!"
Kuroko's ill-intentioned