Water Veil Heaven Splendor

(Bai Ziye)

A jade-green glow shone within the round cocoon formed by the female Monster, continuously drawing in water from the artificial lake beneath her feet.

This was evolution.

Some Monsters could unlock second-stage, or even multi-stage forms during battle. Evolution usually came with a tremendous increase in power.

The plan had been to send the small female Monster through a Phase Wormhole, then have her evolve for the purpose of launching a surprise attack.

An unnamed tactical officer warned, "Please be careful, Miss Miluno. Energy is building up inside that sphere."

"I can see that."

"I think we should wait until the lake water has been dra—"

A high-speed water jet unexpectedly punched through the hexacopter drone, and the tactical officer's voice cut off abruptly.

If we waited for the lake to dry up, the Monster would have finished evolving.

The Association's tactical officer was no help. It seemed I would have to think of something myself. I really did lack a way to get close to her, though. If this were on land, I probably would have ended the battle already, right?

Looks like I could only use that move.

Holding my twin daggers in a reverse grip, I lowered myself, preparing to sprint, when...

"M-Miss Miluno!"

A petite pink figure came running from the direction of the park entrance.

"...Ceruno?"

She ran up beside me and smiled with narrowed eyes. "Oh my! I'm so honored that you remembered my name!"

Was she really this excited just because I called her by name?

Another water jet came shooting toward us. This seemed to be the evolving Monster's only defensive method. Ceruno did not dodge, instead taking it head-on with the protective film spread over her body... The water jet was not particularly powerful, about as much as Ceruno could withstand.

"I have a way to get you over there, Miss Miluno."

"How?"

"My magic can create air cushions that cover the water's surface. You can step on them, and they can also stop her from absorbing more lake water to evolve."

She had only just arrived, yet she had already figured out the situation?

I did not want to reveal my trump card either, so Ceruno's proposal suited me perfectly.

"How many water jets can your magic withstand?"

"Judging from that last one, at most two. But I can replenish my shield. As long as she can't fire them continuously, she isn't a threat to me."

"Can you let the water jets pass through?"

"No... I can't imagine a reality where I isolate the lake water without also isolating the water jets... But I have another way. Miss Miluno, get ready to run!"

Another water jet struck, still targeting Ceruno. The Monster seemed to know she could not hit me and did not waste effort trying to stop me.

The water jet was incredibly fast. Ceruno could not evade it in time, and her protective film was blown apart. Even so, she raised her Ruby Wand, so characteristic of a Magical Girl, and summoned countless tightly packed air cushions across the water's surface.

I see. Since a single sheet covering the water could easily be scattered, she had distributed the impact by creating a huge number of sheets. The price, however, was... Ceruno was already struggling to catch her breath after using just that one spell.

"Ceruno, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Please stop her, Miss Miluno!"

"Yeah."

I looked toward the center of the lake. Only there was a single enormous membrane, cutting off the cocoon's connection to the water.

"Time-Freeze."

Everything around me nearly came to a standstill. I vaulted over the fence along the shore and raced across Ceruno's air cushions toward the massive cocoon.

I had to finish her before her evolution was complete. This troublesome thing gave me a very bad feeling. She was stronger than any Monster I had encountered before.

Fortunately, with solid footing, she had lost any means of stopping me from approaching.

Stepping across the slightly soft air cushions, I rushed right up to her. My dark-gold dagger stabbed into the churning curtain of iron chains.

Without the air cushions, I would have fallen into the lake by now.

"Mahou-Shoujo Slash!"

(Note: a reference to Ultra Slash.)

In an instant, I pushed my own flow of time beyond its tenfold limit. Like a hot knife through butter, my dagger tore through the Monster's barrier. Chains shattered, and I caught sight of the evolving female Monster.

That wide, ugly witch's hat had vanished without a trace. At last, I could see her features clearly. Silver-blue scales covered only up to her lower jaw. Apart from a sharklike mouth full of sharp teeth, her facial features were no different from a human's—she could even be called beautiful. Emerald lake water formed long hair that draped behind her, slowly flowing through the nearly frozen time...

This female Monster was actually rather pretty.

But I had no intention of showing mercy. Ending her life in the instant before she could react—that was the last kindness I could offer a Monster.

Having made up my mind, I thrust my dagger toward her throat, covered in diagonally angled scales.

...No.

Sensing that something was wrong, I recoiled like a shrimp.

The next second, the chains forming the round cocoon, the water curtain, even the dagger—all of it shot outward like shattering blades toward a deliberate target.

The target was not me, but behind me... Ceruno?!

She was sitting weakly by the lakeshore, with no protective film around her. Even if she had one, it might not have withstood the Monster's desperate all-out attack.

As though she believed her last gamble was about to succeed, the female Monster grinned.

Even killing her now would not stop the barrage.

I turned and ran toward Ceruno on the shore, but that reckless barrage was incredibly fast, as though she had spent all that time inside the cocoon preparing for this one strike.

Tenfold was not enough, then thirteen... fifteenfold!

The instant I accelerated again, the burden on my body grew heavier. My bones felt as though they were coming apart. Every step felt like moving through wet concrete, and even breathing became difficult...

Fifteenfold was too much.

But I had to protect that idiot.

In the unnaturally silent time, I passed through the overwhelming barrage.

I smashed through the railing by the shore and stopped in front of Ceruno.

Lack of oxygen made me dizzy, but I still could not touch her directly.

At my current fifteenfold flow of time, even the slightest contact would cause her severe harm, let alone pushing her out of the attack's range.

I turned around again, tightening my grip on the dagger as I prepared to meet the incoming "Itano Circus"...

But a real circus was something you dodged.

And I could only take it head-on.

I swung my sword aside the first water blade. The water that struck my dagger burst into even smaller water needles, but I had no time to deal with them, because this was only the beginning. More dangerous chains and blade fragments followed.

The density was too high. Even at fifteenfold speed, I could not possibly block every projectile. Scenes of slicing bullets apart with a katana might look cool in movies, but directors never set up several machine guns for it, because that was simply impossible by common sense!

More importantly, I was running out of time.

The physical burden and oxygen deprivation brought by fifteenfold speed would kill me, even if only a few seconds passed in reality.

But I could not dodge. Ceruno, whose physical abilities were worse than mine, could never endure this... but maybe I could.

Having made up my mind, I faced Ceruno and spread my arms, restoring my flow of time to normal and preparing to take everything on my back.

...I never thought I would be pushed into such a hard fight.

In an instant, the dense barrage behind me slammed me into Ceruno.

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