Tiger Cub's Borrowed Swagger: Ceruno

(Ceruno)

Tiger Cub was merely passively parrying Alpha's attacks with her hammer. Her magic... made the heavy hammer feel weightless in her hands. Thus, relying on her feline reflexes, the golden hammer could barely block Miss Alpha's continuous attacks, but she had no ability to retaliate at all.

Therefore, it seemed that Alpha was dominating Tiger Cub, but the result was...

Alpha's blade broke.

Even under these circumstances, Phoenix had to cover the wound on his lower back and abdomen while explaining:

"That witch's sword sacrificed thickness for sharpness, while that hammer was quite sturdy. Using such a blade to cut such a hammer, even the advanced materials on 'the Other Side' couldn't withstand the frequency of impact. Even if it didn't break, it would have already chipped."

Just as she said, Alpha's knife is mainly due to metal fatigue. Since it's not magic, the knife probably doesn't belong to Battle Dress; it's just a man-made product.

In contrast, there's no need to worry about Duan Yin's iron hammer. It's not only Battle Dress, but it also doesn't have a blade. Even if it's dented and battered, it won't affect its power when swung... and it might even be stronger after being dented and battered.

Alpha's move was essentially a head-on collision with a rock, a truly idiotic move. Of course, it's also possible that she was very confident in her skills.

Alpha sighed as he discarded the half-broken, still-bent straight sword, then pulled out a short wand from behind him that resembled his Ruby Wand.

Like my cane, it's red, only a deeper shade. The gem at the tip is an irregular, uncut stone, while the handle below, like a straight knife, is tied with a ribbon bow.

As the "First Warrior of the Supreme Council," Miss Alpha is a powerful swordswoman.

But her weapon as a witch has a rather... girlish feel to it.

No wonder she didn't want to use this power; after all, she was stronger than other witches with just a watermelon knife.

"Ready."

Phoenix was still leaning against me, one of her hands hidden behind my lower back, holding a solidified bubble that shimmered with high-density Fire Phosphor.

"Can we run?" I asked in a low voice.

"It can fly."

As Phoenix spoke, he threw a bubble at Alpha. Miss Alpha reacted extremely quickly. As soon as she saw the Fire Phosphor in the sphere, she immediately retreated several steps. Although the Witch Domain could regenerate her, she did not want to endure the pain of being scorched.

As a result, the bubble ball was blocked by Tiger Cub's golden hammer.

"Huh? What did you throw away with that?--"

PONG--!

The bursting bubble swelled with thick smoke, the explosive spread so rapidly that even the Alpha was enveloped in a large area of smoke.

This is a smoke grenade, the really black kind.

"Cough cough cough... swearing... I swore! Cough cough cough!"

Beneath the coal-like black smoke came Tiger Cub's violent coughing and cursing. In contrast, Miss Alpha, who possessed the ability to circulate her internal energy, vanished silently into the smoke. However, Phoenix could see what was happening inside the black mist...

Because she put on my Bunny Helmet with advanced sensors!

"Yes! Everything's clear! Time to fly!"

Phoenix carried me into the air. I was a little worried that she would aggravate my wound, but as the Dual-Core Magical Girl's magic power increased, she also seemed to have a good recovery ability. The wound on my waist and abdomen, where a large chunk of flesh had been cut open and removed, had stopped bleeding.

She put on the bubble that popped out the black smoke, and carried me into the fog. I reached out and supported Tiger Cub under her armpits. She was wearing a tiger-striped tube top, and her bare armpits weren't even a hair... Although I knew she was a slovenly middle-aged man... but...

Just as Phoneix was trying to rise, it felt like it was being pulled down.

"Hey, put the hammer away!"

Tiger Cub was still clutching her long-handled golden mace... Light is relative; although she could swing the heavy mace at will, its weight was still present to us, and that was clearly beyond the payload capacity of Phoenix during flight.

"Ha! Weapons are my life! How can I let go of them!"

"Then put it back into the Crystal! We're running away!"

Instead, she cursed and yelled, "Run? I broke her weapon! You're telling me to run? And you even threw smoke bombs at me! You magical girls are all cowards! Put me down! I want to duel her!"

This catgirl is insane.

Phoenix, being half-hot-tempered Heat Haze, immediately retorted, "Hey, did you interrupt her? She broke it herself! You really think you're evenly matched with her? Don't get delusional just because you had a temporary advantage. She couldn't even use magic against you; she's clearly looking down on you!"

My bubble is soundproof, so I'm not worried about Miss Alpha using sound-based positioning to attack in the dark through the smoke. But Tiger Cub is swearing like a shrew, and he refuses to let go of that incredibly powerful weapon.

"Let me go! swear! I'm going to avenge my dead brothers!"

Phoenix bluntly stated:

"Ceruno, let her go! Let's retreat and get reinforcements!"

Where are the reinforcements?

The magical girls are outnumbered. Their best option is to concentrate their remaining forces, hold the temporary assembly point, ensure the safety of the surviving civilians, and wait for reinforcements from outside the barrier.

But my magic is indispensable for getting reinforcements in... In other words, the survival of everyone within the barrier, including the magical girls, is at stake...

If this continues, all three of them might not be able to leave, after all, Phoneix was flying with an injury!

"Hold on, I'll bring people back!"

I released Tiger Cub and used the little magic I had left to cast the thickest protective shield around her.

"Phoneix! Keep the smoke! Fly upwards!"

Although they will throw razor blades and darts, even Alpha wouldn't be able to hit us in the black smoke. Besides, we have the protection of the bubbles, so even if we are unfortunately detected and hit, we won't suffer the large wounds like Phoneix did before...

But then a sound of something colliding came from above. Phoneix exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Wait a minute, where the hell am I?"

A wooden ceiling, surrounded by... roof beams.

How did you fly into the building?

Speaking of which, are there any wooden houses this tall in the North Suburbs?

"No, it's the scenery here that has changed... The Witch Domain changes according to the witch's mental state... I'm afraid all the witches who invaded this time are masters of the domain... but such a vast domain..."

Emerging from the thick smoke, Phoneix and I were finally able to see our surroundings clearly.

"Is this... a castle?"

Although it's an ancient castle, it's somewhat difficult to describe.

Just like the patchwork outfit on Alpha, the scenes generated by her mental imagery are also products of stitching together.

The castle features European-style castle floor tiles, Japanese-style castle shoji doors, and Chinese-style palace beam and timber structure; the castle's main hall even boasts towering white Roman columns.

"Miss Alpha... she actually quite approves of Earth's civilization, doesn't she?"