A Brief Stop

(Miluno)

Before even descending to the Engine Department, a massive bubble covering the entire City School suddenly appeared, causing an inexplicable sense of unease.

"What's going on? Ceruno's power has been unleashed?"

The little one perched on my shoulder and asked a question.

I don't think it's that simple...

A massive bubble of 200,000 square meters cannot be created simply by saying "explosion," and this immense power makes me deeply distrustful.

"She broke through?"

"Wake up! Breaking through to the second tier can increase your abilities tenfold?"

"What else could it be?"

"The City School has regained balance, which means the remaining Power Crystal are still functioning, and that means Metal is alright... Let's go back to the Control Tower and check on Ceruno's situation. With the Bubble Membrane, the Engine Department is safe, unless the enemy attacks before reaching 'the Other Side,' but then we can't really ambush them, and they have no advantage fighting us inside the wormhole."

We have Ceruno's bubble protection, but they have to withstand the pressure of the wormhole. Under the influence of the pressure, any object becomes fragile, which is equivalent to fighting us with a defense reduction debuff. Not to mention that reality is not a game. A fragile body will have difficulty using its abilities and its attack power will be reduced.

In other words, the general attack from "the Other Side" likely occurred after the City School left the wormhole.

However, facing at least ten times the number of Monster as our side, including a considerable number of witches and even an extraordinary being like the "Great Hand," the City School's current combat strength will likely lead to a tough battle.

Moreover, on the "The Other Side," Aldebaran invented that thing...

Mono nodded knowingly.

"Oh, the Magic Suppressant, right! That's really hard to deal with, especially for ordinary magical girls. The solidification of magic not only means they can't use magic, but their movements are also restricted."

It was ineffective against the witch who possessed two powers, but I couldn't handle so many enemies by myself.

"Let's go back and discuss a solution. It would be best if Ceruno could isolate the Magic Suppressant... To be honest, I think that thing is somewhat unsolvable except for Witchification."

"Hmph, that's not necessarily true!"

Mono seemed to have a different opinion.

"Don't we have that too, the aerosol spray to deal with Dark Energy?"

She was referring to that... "Dark Rampage Spray" developed by Professor Hephaestus?

Because it is an experimental product, it has not yet been named. In short, it can stimulate the activation and loss of control of Dark Energy, and Monster and witches with poor self-control may even perish because of it.

Incidentally, it also works on Mono, but she seems to be able to tolerate it.

As I thought this, the little thing put its hands on its hips and said proudly:

"That's right! No one understands how to manipulate the dark side better than me!"

When they turned back, the Control Tower had already been swallowed by the wormhole.

However, thanks to Super Ceruno's bubble, the area was undamaged, and the magical girls were mostly unharmed. A few were injured when the faculty building collapsed under the support pillar, but they have been healed by the magical girls in the Support Class.

Can you explain the situation to us?

Ceruno has long pink and blue hair, but for some reason, she makes me feel... uncomfortable right now.

There's something repulsive about her that I find even more disgusting than the darkness of the "Great Will."

"Miluno ~ I've gained new power too!"

"What kind of power is it?"

"It's Earth Crystal, the most powerful Crystal on Earth!"

Earth?

So she's currently in a triple-core state?

"The wormhole isn't long. We need to hold a strategic meeting. We can't just foolishly rush Past... We need to bring Antarctic Star here; we need her brains."

It wasn't just about combat; it was about asking her to relay the contents of the meeting... After all, the magical girls here had lost the advantage of communicating with each other.

A girl with an expression as cold as a penguin in Antarctica appeared at the door shortly afterward.

"Miluno... Ceruno?"

She was puzzled by Ceruno's strange appearance.

"This is Ceruno's three-in-one form; it's incredibly powerful."

Xiao Yi casually introduced it, and then said:

"But that's not the point. We really should discuss countermeasures... Sister Miluno, where are the people in the Engine Department?"

"Um, I came back as soon as I saw this big bubble. Is the Engine Department alright too?"

Xiao Yi, however, stood with her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks at me in dissatisfaction.

"Sis~ I asked you to Past find them not only to check on their safety, but also to decide on our next steps~ They're the drivers for this City School!"

Now that you mention it, I realize I was indeed too impatient.

Ultimately, I was just too worried about Ceruno's condition. Suddenly inflating such a large bubble, I thought there would be some side effects... but she seemed to be handling it quite well, and even seemed to be able to keep inflating it.

Ta-da--

A magical girl with long brown hair appeared at the door carrying a wooden box. She punched the malfunctioning access control system and squeezed her way to us.

"I'm back! Looks like everyone's doing well?"

"Well, at least two-thirds of the City School was saved. Is the Engine Department alright?"

"The Power Crystal in the factory area to the east is offline, and the remaining Crystal are slowing down. We can turn around and get out through the wormhole."

It can even turn around?!

So it seems that the pace of education at the City School is indeed getting slower and slower.

"Oh, and this too, take it with you when you leave the operation."

She pushed out a wooden crate, inside which was a bunch of... walkie-talkies.

It's the classic black model that mall security guards always carry around.

"The main building area is about 200,000 square meters, and including the Ring Corridor, the diameter is no more than 600 meters. Although the size is smaller than our headset walkie-talkies, the power of these walkie-talkies is more than enough to cover the area."

"You even prepared something like this?" Phoenix asked, somewhat surprised.

"SpiCa anticipated that the enemy would target City School, so she had me prepare communication equipment that didn't rely on the Control Tower. In addition, City School's weapon systems were fully upgraded, so that even if some Annihilation Bomb came, they could be intercepted immediately... However, she probably didn't expect the enemy to open such a large wormhole for us to crash Past."

Metal shrugged and looked at Xiao Yi again.

"Principal, should we turn around?"

Xiao Yi crossed her arms and nodded.

"Of course! Since we can retreat, there's no need to fight such a reckless battle, right? We can't let everyone take that risk."

Although a tough battle with the other side is inevitable sooner or later, it cannot be launched without adequate preparation and when the combat strength is inferior.

Metal communicated with the Engine Department via walkie-talkie.

"The City School will come to a complete stop in five minutes and enter Spatial Anchoring State."

Ceruno asked, puzzled, "Huh? Why aren't we making a quick getaway? We're going to stay here for a while?"

Metal rubbed her little face and explained, "We need time to repair the Eastern Power Crystal! Every power source in the City School is indispensable. It's fine inside the wormhole, but once we get outside, we'll crash due to insufficient power!"