Wolf Shadow

(Sun Yao)

"Oh! Yeah!"

I took down the Monster on my own!

Though that Stump was especially weak even among Monsters.

"Don't get cocky! Now that the Monster's dealt with, the next step is putting out the fire!"

Only after Heat Haze urged me did I realize I was surrounded by flames. I could wrap myself in bubbles and rush out, but I had no idea how to put the fire out.

The fire was huge!

When I looked back, nearly half the hillside was burning. The nearest water source was Longmoon Lake at the foot of the mountain. How was I supposed to handle this on my own...?

"Thunderous Resonance! To the left!"

Miluno cried out.

Boom—

A dull low-frequency sound wave hammered against my eardrums, while the flames before me reluctantly died out beneath the waves, turning into curling streams of black smoke.

"Ugh, it feels like there's water sloshing around in my ears..."

A gurgling, trickling sound. Had I gone deaf?

Heat Haze seemed to have said something, but even with my walkie-talkie on, my hearing was temporarily impaired.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"I said! This is a firefighting technique that uses sound resonance! Sound waves at a specific frequency reduce the oxygen density in the air, making the flames lose the conditions needed to burn. But it usually requires tremendous power. This really is something only Thunderous Resonance can do!" Heat Haze practically shouted.

I'd thought putting out fires with sound was some kind of magic. It was actually possible?

"...That's amazing, but it's a little loud."

I dug at my ear, only to find my whole body numb from the vibrations.

Miluno was carrying that blue magical girl around and running through the forest with Megaphone, extinguishing fires. But it was midday, and with the surrounding area still ablaze, the temperature was outrageously high. The fires they put out quickly flared back up.

I asked, "Does the tactical officer have any firefighting plans?"

"Firefighting drones have already been mobilized. If I were there, I'd first use Fire Phosphor to consume the oxygen... Ah! Ceruno, I just thought of a way you can put out the fire too."

"What?"

"Can your air membrane contract after expanding?"

"Yes."

"Compress the air over a wide area. Releasing it suddenly will create a powerful wind, and wind can carry away heat, also depriving the fire of the conditions it needs to burn."

At this temperature, it might not work.

But I still had to try.

The convex-lens bubble above my head began to compress and descend.

Even air compressed to its limit was still gaseous. To compress it further into liquid, I would need not only immense pressure but also low temperatures. That was beyond me right now.

Wind that failed to cool the air enough would carry in oxygen and make the fire burn even harder, so I kept that in mind while compressing it.

I removed the oxygen.

The compressed air bomb exploded above the forest. A low-oxygen gale swept through, extinguishing the wildfire around us and tossing my long hair into disarray—the wind was stronger than I had expected.

"Nice work! Again!"

Heat Haze was pleased with the result, but doing it again might be difficult.

"I'm out of magic power..."

"That was only one shot and you're already out? Why are you so useless!"

Although the bubble had ultimately been compressed to over a hundred meters in diameter, it had originally been a massive bubble hundreds of meters across. The power of Sunbeam was entirely built upon enormous magical consumption...

"Ceruno, can you hear me?"

A familiar voice cut into the conversation.

"Miss SpiCa?"

"Make some bubbles to isolate the fire. The firefighting drones and local fire crews will arrive soon."

I didn't need to put out the fire. What I needed to do was stop it from spreading.

"Got it!"

Under Miss SpiCa's guidance, I set up isolation belts around the wildfire. Thanks to the timely response and the efforts of Thunderous Resonance and Miluno, the blaze was finally brought under control.

Afterward, the large drones that arrived one after another began spraying water from suspended tanks, while the firefighters hauled hoses up the mountain to prevent any possible flare-ups.

Miss SpiCa said, "It's over. The impact wasn't too severe. This is much better than when you demolish buildings in the city."

"...Sigh."

Miluno came over, carrying Thunderous Resonance over her shoulder.

"Put me down already! Honestly, how long are you planning to carry me around?"

Thunderous Resonance, slung over Miluno's shoulder, blushed as she slapped Miluno's back until the latter expressionlessly set her down.

She was clearly wearing a cute-style Western dress, yet she insisted on pairing it with absurdly oversized sunglasses.

"Ceruno, do you remember where that External Invader died?"

At Miss SpiCa's question, I turned and pointed toward...

"Huh?"

The "charcoal" that should have been there had vanished.

Cold sweat instantly broke out all over me.

"Wait! It ran away? It can't still be alive, can it?!"

That Monster might have been weak and slow, but there were so many firefighters here. If it caused trouble, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"Someone's there."

Without even explaining further, Miluno rushed out.

And she was moving far too fast for us to keep up.

(Bai Ziye)

That black humanoid streaked past the edge of the field at incredible speed.

Not only was he fast, he was silent. Perhaps no one else had noticed him, but my five senses were sharper than those of ordinary magical girls...

Thinking about it carefully, this wormhole had taken five minutes to open. Did a Stump Monster with a dwarf-like body really need five minutes?

After all, Magma, whose wormhole had also taken five minutes to open, was a huge one.

I had been lulled by the assumption that Monsters only appeared alone. If I was right, the Stump Monster had merely been cannon fodder. This guy who had hidden the moment he landed was the true main force, waiting for an opportunity... I caught up.

I accelerated past the running figure, spun around, and lashed a high kick at his head.

"!?"

The thick-soled boots modified and reinforced by Metal had greatly increased the power of my kick, yet he raised an arm and blocked this tenfold-speed strike. He could keep up with my speed? Or had it been a coincidence?

Only during that brief pause did I get a chance to examine him from the front.

A black Mechanical Werewolf?

Or perhaps it was merely armor shaped like a Werewolf. The armor was entirely black, and though its finish was matte, it looked brand-new. Deep crimson could be seen through the gaps in the plating.

Golden LED lights glowed from the wolf head's eye sockets. Though I couldn't see his pupils, I could tell.

He was looking at my... skirt.

"Hmph, so you're a perverted wolf!"

There was fluffy petticoat fabric beneath my skirt, so there was no risk of exposure, but I was still angered. I pulled back my raised leg, drew the two short swords at my waist, and charged him.

"..."

The armored Werewolf did not choose to fight. Instead, he leaped backward to widen the distance, then shook the arm that had blocked my kick.

He didn't look like he felt very good.

But he was merely uncomfortable.

I hadn't gone all out, but the fact that I hadn't even inflicted any substantial damage still surprised me. This Monster that had sneaked in was no simple foe. He was at least Witch-level in strength... though his build was clearly that of a male Werewolf.

Holding the charred Monster's remains, the Werewolf turned and darted back into the forest. I had no intention of letting him go, but this time, he grabbed tree trunks and leaped forward, moving faster than before.

In this world that was practically frozen, being able to move at such speed made this Werewolf a troublesome enemy.

However, there was no way I would lose to him in speed!

"Ha!"

I threw both short swords in succession.

One embedded itself in the tree trunk directly before him;

The other shot toward the Werewolf, who had frozen in midair.

Got him!

Clang—

The armored Werewolf raised the clawed armguard on his arm and blocked the strike. He had kept up with my speed again. This could no longer be called coincidence.

However, he no longer had a hand free to grab the tree trunks. Kicking off the trunk with both feet, he actually charged straight at me.

Not only did he refuse to surrender, he dared to counterattack?

Even his punches and palm strikes had a certain tracking ability. He truly could keep up with my speed, but I was still faster.

"Gaoo—"

With a low growl, the red portions of his body flared brightly, and high-temperature steam even burst from the gaps in his armor.

His palm suddenly shot toward my abdomen at high speed.

This was his burst speed, but I had my own trump card: fifteenfold speed.

Time Control. His movements slowed in my eyes once more. I grabbed the clawed hand reaching for me and pulled it behind me. As we brushed past each other, I gave him another kick in the back.

My boots had horseshoes mounted on their soles!

"Awoo!"

He crashed away like a cannonball, snapping a locust tree that took two people to wrap their arms around, then skidding across the ground and leaving a long braking mark.

"..."

That fall had obviously hurt badly.

It was essentially as if he had thrown himself out, with the force of my kick added on top.

"This should be the end, you pervert."

I picked up the short sword that had fallen to the ground and slowly walked toward him.

The red glow that had lit up earlier had faded. He had entered a weakened state after his burst, lying prone on the ground and staring fixedly at my legs, unable to look away... Was he really just a perverted wolf?

By comparison, the side effects of fifteenfold speed were much milder. However, the wound on my back, which had only recently healed, split open again. It wasn't serious.

"..."

Only three steps remained between us when the Werewolf made another move. He violently smashed the charred Monster into the ground, and the already heavily carbonized wooden stump instantly shattered into pieces.

He rummaged through the ashes and pulled out a piece of... something.

It looked somewhat like a small chunk of ore.

Then he ate it.

Or at least, he shoved it beneath the wolf-head mask.

I didn't know how it worked, but green light flowed beneath the armor on his right arm. The claws on his armguard also transformed into blades made of tangled twigs... Was this evolution?

No, it seemed a little different.

"Be careful, Miss Miluno."

The Association's drone finally caught up, and SpiCa's voice came through the walkie-talkie at tenfold slowness.

"This External Invader is very unusual. If possible, I'd like you to capture him alive."

"Capture him alive? Is he a Witch too?"

"Clearly not, but he has great research value."

Research again?

I stared at the Werewolf and asked, "What exactly is the Association trying to do?"

"Everything we do is for the better protection of this world, Miss Miluno. No matter how much you dislike our methods, please believe me on this one point: we are absolutely not your enemies."

SpiCa's tone was very sincere, but how could words alone make me believe her?

However, in order to hear her slowed-down words clearly, I slightly restored the flow of time. Then the ground beneath my feet suddenly shook. Tree roots bursting from the earth wrapped around my legs before I could react, making it difficult for me to exert force.

"Damn it."

The seemingly weakened Mechanical Werewolf had somehow already driven the blade in his hand into the ground.

This was the same ability as that Stump Monster.

"..."

He seemed to think he had taken care of me. He climbed out of the pit with the smugness of a victor—despite relying on a sneak attack.

Then he even had the leisure to give me an elegant bow.

He wasn't planning to attack me?

Thinking about it carefully, he had never tried to kill me. Even with that strike just now, the one that had offered him the best chance, he had only chosen a palm strike.

A palm could shove me away, but a fist might have pierced through my abdomen.

"What exactly are you trying to—"

Before I could finish the question, a tangible shockwave of sound brushed past me.

The agile Werewolf dodged the sonic attack, then fled into the forest without looking back.

For a moment.

The world fell into absolute silence.

I hadn't used magic. My ears had simply gone deaf.