Solar Beam

(Bai Ziye)

I stood atop a tall tree, observing the battle. For anything I couldn't see, I watched the live feed on my tablet. With drones filming the entire operation, it was quite convenient.

Ceruno, whose magic was abundant, created an enormous bubble high in the sky, several hundred meters in diameter and comparable to a large radio telescope. It wasn't enough to blot out the sky, but it was still breathtaking.

Was this the result of her going all out?

That was seriously outrageous, especially considering what she had said over the radio.

"The trump card is the sun."

If I wasn't mistaken, this was a giant convex lens?

Sure enough, the floating bubble began to change shape. Through refraction on its surface, it started focusing the sunlight shining upon it onto a single point. The target was naturally that short stump on the mountaintop—this was the first time I had ever seen such an ugly Monster.

The temperature at the focal point was probably more than even I could endure. That Stump Monster had broken legs, so if it hid in the forest...

Wait, no. It was forty degrees today. Was she planning to play with a convex lens in the mountains?

"Wait! Ceruno!"

Realizing something was wrong, I turned on the radio and shouted for her to stop.

"You'll start a forest fire! Stop it now."

"Huh?"

But it was already too late. The focused sunlight formed a Sunbeam, which swept along the ridge toward the Stump Monster under Ceruno's control. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the heat and the blinding brilliance.

How could one block intangible sunlight? The stump could only dodge sideways like a rolling log. But it had been standing on the steps, so it really did tumble down the mountain path it had come up, bumping and crashing all the way.

That wasn't the important part. The searing beam had swept across the forest as well. The already dry trees burst into flame in an instant, and the scorched smell of burning firewood filled the air.

"Ah! Damn!"

Ceruno realized she had caused trouble too. If this small forest fire was allowed to spread, all of Longmoon Lake Park would be finished.

"I'll deal with that Monster. You figure out how to put out the fire first."

"How am I supposed to... I know, I'll try..."

She sounded terribly unsure of herself.

She had finally come up with a powerful offensive move, only for its first use to cause trouble—and the target Monster had escaped.

The blow to her morale couldn't be understated. The fighting spirit she had only just mustered was about to be extinguished...

That wouldn't do.

"No. Ceruno has to deal with both the Monster and the forest fire!"

It was Heat Haze speaking, and she was even lecturing me.

"Miss Miluno, you're a bodyguard, not a nanny. Your only duty is to ensure Ceruno's safety. You have no obligation to clean up her mess."

Taking care of that stupid stump would have been easy for me. I could probably kick it into a pile of firewood with one kick. But if I did that, I would also be cutting off Ceruno's chance to make up for her mistake, and this would keep troubling her forever.

In the end, Heat Haze had put more thought into Ceruno's situation than I had.

"I understand. Let Ceruno handle both the Monster and the forest fire."

"...I-I'll do my best."

"Not your best—do it quickly! The Association has already contacted the fire department. Once the Monster is dealt with, firefighters will head up the mountain to put out the fire. The sooner you take down the Stump Monster, the sooner we can bring the fire under control!"

Heat Haze was bedridden and unable to move, yet her spirits were high. She was harsh on Ceruno too... a real armchair commander.

Still, she was indeed better suited to this than I was.

"The tracking drone was knocked down by its branches... I can't find the Monster."

Ceruno quickly fell into a panic.

That stump-shaped Monster was basically a camouflaged Viet Cong in this forest. Once we lost sight of it, finding it again was no easy task.

"It actually knows how to cower and cling to life. I've never seen such a cowardly Monster."

Heat Haze cursed over the radio. "It's stalling, waiting for the forest fire to spread. It knows we can't just ignore the fire... Watch out, Thunderous Resonance is here!"

From this spot on the slope, we could see the park entrance.

A magical girl wearing sunglasses rode in on a black motorcycle. Yet she was dressed in a light, fluttering dress. The dress was blue and white, and her short hair was aqua blue as well.

Still, she clearly suited one of those delinquent uniforms with "Noisy and Proud" written across it far better.

She looked up at the forest fire, then pulled out her weapon from behind her.

A uniquely shaped megaphone.

"Set the mountains on fire, and you'll rot in prison!"

Her voice was loud enough to be heard clearly even from this far away. She truly lived up to the name Thunderous Resonance.

"What's her civilian nickname?" I asked.

"Megaphone," Heat Haze replied.

"...I was wondering if it would be that."

Compared with Metal, the somewhat famous "Steel Dragon" of D4 District, "Megaphone" Thunderous Resonance had indeed left little impression on me.

I jumped down from the tree and headed down the mountain trail.

"...I-I found it!"

Ceruno, standing at the mountaintop, brought good news instead.

"There's no wind today, but the trees over there are moving!"

Heat Haze reminded Ceruno over the radio.

"Wait. You can only clearly see the Monster's movements while standing on the mountaintop. If you run down like that, you'll easily lose your bearings."

Ceruno created another bubble beacon in the air. At the same time, Heat Haze asked the Association to send a drone to keep watch from high above.

As for me, I had already reached Thunderous Resonance at the entrance to the mountain trail.

"Oh! Miluno! I know ya!"

Her clean-cut, delicate magical girl image shattered the instant she opened her mouth.

"Can you control the forest fire?"

"My magic can put out fires."

She patted her Megaphone.

"With sound."

Putting out fires with sound was certainly unusual, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I wrapped an arm around her waist from behind and lifted her up.

"Huh? Wait, sis! What the heck are ya doing all of a sudden?"

"Taking you up the mountain!"

(Sun Yao)

I had caused a huge disaster.

The sunlight focused by this several-hundred-meter convex lens was even more powerful than I had imagined. Merely sweeping across the ground left behind a charred trail of destruction, and trees that hadn't been directly hit still sparked into flames.

This Sunbeam was probably over a thousand degrees.

It had overwhelming power, but it was also extremely difficult to control. The slightest adjustment to the convex-lens bubble could drag a fire trail dozens of meters across the ground. On top of that, the brightness was so intense that even I couldn't keep my eyes open. Under such circumstances, accurately hitting a moving target was nearly impossible.

"Ceruno! That thing knows it's been spotted... It's running again!"

"Why would they send such a cowardly Monster?"

Two old trees bent their trunks down and swung their branches in a low sweeping strike.

Then they froze in place, maintaining their roadblocking posture. Unable to get past them, I had no choice but to go around the two nearly horizontal old trees.

When the old trees stopped moving, it was also a sign that the Stump Monster had uprooted itself. As long as the Monster moved, the new drone would be able to catch its movements.

"It's determined to stall for time. It's right ahead!"

"I see it!"

Moving on its inflexible Root legs, the Stump Monster fled laboriously before my eyes. But now that it had entered my line of sight, I naturally had a way to restrict its movements.

"Ha!"

The Stump Monster was enveloped by my bubble and floated into the air under the force of its expansion.

Its Roots and branches lashed against the bubble's inner wall with crackling sounds, but I "refused" to let it leave. As long as I still had magic, that seemingly fragile bubble was as impenetrable as an iron wall to it.

"I won't let you escape again."

The blinding Sunbeam pierced through the canopy and struck the bubble with perfect accuracy. Even from more than ten meters away, the absurd heat was unbearable. Breathing became difficult, and the twisted trees around us began to catch fire, leaving the ground a scorched wasteland.

As for that Stump Monster...

Well, it had already become a Monster made of charcoal ash.

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