Chapter 133
The girl glanced at me lightly, showing neither fear nor a smile, and as she spoke, she revealed teeth stained with blood.
I know, you're injured, aren't you?
Efnir simply stared at the girl without replying.
"It seems there's no way to make you submit easily, so I'll have to resort to force."
Efnir's voice was soft as she withdrew her spear to her side, its tip flashing with a cold, sharp light.
She spun the gun blade, the tip digging into the ground, sparks flying.
The girl's gaze paused slightly.
"Efnir, you have many possibilities... I may not be your match right now, but you can't stop me either..."
Ignoring Efnir's warnings and attempts to persuade her to surrender, the girl showed no sign of urgency. Although she was badly injured by Efnir's attack, she still had the leisure to move.
"Say what you have to say in prison."
Efnir slowly took a step back, then suddenly exerted her strength.
Like a lit match, a series of explosions rang out, and the ground beneath Efnir's feet shattered and burst open like a spider web. Her figure instantly rushed to the girl's front with a speed that could not be caught by the naked eye.
The girl stared intently at the direction from which Efnir was charging. At the same time, she raised her hand, and a screen of azure light rose between them. Simultaneously, a burst of silver light flashed around the girl, and layers of halos enveloped her entire body.
"Strengthen."
The girl murmured, her gaze meeting Efnir's crimson eyes.
Efnir narrowed her left eye, showing no restraint, and the sharp blade pierced through the light barrier once more, heading straight for the girl's shoulder.
As the light barrier shattered, the girl spat out another mouthful of blood mist, but she didn't seem to care at all and pushed out with her palm. Efnir felt a tremendous force coming from the tip of the spear, and the spear was actually deflected.
Efnir's gaze sharpened slightly.
Although I had witnessed it from the helicopter, experiencing it firsthand still gave me a strange sense of reality—the girl seemed to be able to manipulate some kind of energy that could not be seen with the eyes to attack, and since the force that could deflect her gun blade was obviously not to be underestimated.
Efnir slightly turned her body to keep the girl within her field of vision, and flipped her wrists to the left and right, causing the tip of the gun to swing. As Efnir turned and flipped, the gun swirled around her waist like a dragon's tail, and then, like a whip, it slashed through the air and struck out suddenly.
The girl raised her palm and pushed out again.
This time, the azure light barrier still failed to stop the slam of the spear's tail. The spear transformed into a massive hammer, shattering the girl's entire shoulder. Her shoulder caved in deeply, like a sand dune that had been crushed. But at the same time, as the girl pushed out with force, the wind pressure that gathered from all around assaulted Efnir.
Even though she saw nothing, in that instant, it was as if Efnir was submerged in water in front of her, the air became heavy and hindered Efnir movements, and then a tremendous force came towards her.
Efnir groaned, as if struck by a massive boulder. The spear slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground. Her entire body was struck by an immense force invisible to the naked eye, sending her flying backward. Light flashed beneath her feet, and with a somersault, the spear reappeared in her hand, supporting her and preventing her from losing her balance.
However, the blood at the corner of her mouth still showed her current injuries. Drops of blood seeped from her sleeves and dripped onto her dress. Because of the attack just now, Efnir's old wounds were torn open, and she was faintly throbbing with pain.
192. Tremors [Eighteenth Update]
"Call..."
Efnir exhaled, breathing softly to suppress the excruciating pain and rapid heartbeat, her crimson left eye fixed on the girl's direction.
I didn't see anything.
--This is the most difficult part for Efnir to deal with when facing the girl's attack.
Even though there was nothing in front of you, the attack came in a real way, and it was impossible to defend against it.
But it's not like there's absolutely no chance of winning.
The sudden wind pressure in the air was the only warning sign. Although the formation of such a weak wind pressure was hard to notice in such a battle, Efnir still caught that subtle change. From the formation of that unusual wind pressure to the arrival of the attack that was invisible to the naked eye, there was about 0.4 seconds of reaction time.
This is the loophole in the girl's strange ability.
Efnir witnessed the girl's bizarre attack methods from the helicopter. She separated Furan and Yukina from the battle because she was worried that they would be injured by the almost undefendable attacks, so she chose to face the girl alone.
But Efnir didn't attack recklessly; instead, she was cautious.
Therefore, this attack did not cause her unbearable damage.
Because she had prepared in advance, Efnir withdrew her weapon and went back to defend herself as soon as she sensed something was wrong, thus minimizing her injury and avoiding being knocked out of her fighting ability by the girl's attack.
However, Efnir was still recovering from an old injury when she played, and the immense pressure that forced her to turn the tide of the game inevitably tore open Efnir old wounds.
Fresh blood dripped down the sleeve.
The old wound was torn open, and it felt as if Efnir's entire body was being soaked in hot oil. The burning sensation of the reopened wound was like thousands of ants gnawing at Efnir's nerves.
She clenched her increasingly trembling teeth, relying on the pills to suppress the excruciating pain that was almost driving her nerves to the brink of collapse.
On the other side, the girl was struck head-on by the heavy butt of Efnir's gun. The ground beneath her feet was crushed into Shard by the enormous force. The girl's body swayed precariously, but she did not fall down. Even her half-collapsed shoulder gradually rose up, revealing her smooth and delicate skin beneath her torn sleeve.
It was as if he hadn't been injured at all.
Immediately afterwards, she spat out another mouthful of blood and began coughing violently.
Gazing at Efnir, who stood leaning on her spear, she remained expressionless.
"You can't keep me here. I advise you to give up. Even if you keep fighting like this, you're just hurting yourself..."
The girl spoke softly, her gaze unfocused.
Indeed, Efnir was still recovering from her old injuries, and each attack in the current battle was an unbearable burden for her. Compared to the blood on the girl's body, the crimson blood seeping from under Efnir's clothes was even more gruesome.
"Snort."
Efnir snorted coldly.
She certainly couldn't continue fighting like that, but compared to her, the girl was probably not doing any better; the blood from the corner of her mouth had already stained her front of her shirt crimson.
The girl must possess valuable intelligence; she carries the weight of countless lives on her shoulders. Furthermore, her presence in the heart of this Erosion Disaster is highly suspicious. Efnir doesn't believe she just happened to be passing by, so Efnir cannot allow her to leave under any circumstances.
"Think about your own situation before you worry about me! The same attack won't work after three uses!"
As she spoke, Efnir bent slightly, the ground beneath her feet was crushed in the next second, and the spear in her hand was turned around and thrown at the moment she charged towards the girl.
The girl raised her arm, and a deep blue light curtain condensed and rose like ice crystals.
Her barrier can withstand a direct hit from a Grade-B Erosion Entity, meaning she can withstand a blast from a single rocket launcher without being harmed.
However, she was unable to defend against Efnir's powerful attack.
The spear swept in with a piercing gust of wind, shattering the water-like mirror surface in an instant, only to bounce back strangely in the blink of an eye.
The girl could not ignore the threat posed by the spear; facing its direct attack, she had to use her own strength to deflect its assault.
This created an opening for Efnir to attack.
The spear pierced the ground at an angle, creating large Fracture. Efnir's figure followed closely behind, breaking through the dust. The girl quickly raised her hand, raising a screen of light.
Efnir narrowed her eyes slightly, then suddenly spun around and, to the girl's astonishment, kicked away the light shield that had not yet fully solidified.
Throughout the battle with the girl, Efnir observed carefully, meticulously memorizing the timing, method, and distance at which the light barrier formed each time, searching for any gaps within it.
She deduced that the movement of the light screen required a certain reaction time, and at the same time, the position of the movement seemed to directly affect the girl's actions. In other words, it was not advisable to be too far away from the girl, but it was also not suitable to be too close.
Therefore, the distance at which the light curtain can rise is limited to a fixed space.
In this situation, the light barrier would become a very troublesome obstacle from the optimal attack range of the spear.
But what if we get even closer?
How close could he be, close enough to cross the light barrier and approach the girl?
Efnir would lose the advantage of attack range provided by the spear, at which distance the spear is not the most suitable attack method.
However, the girl also lost the light barrier as a powerful defensive tool. But Efnir's attack methods were not limited to the spear, and the girl's defense relied almost entirely on the light barrier.
This is a girl's weakness.
"You can't escape!"
Efnir's crimson eyes were fixed on the girl's every move, and she approached the girl's side amidst the girl's dim gaze.
He drew his fist to his waist, his muscles taut from elbow to wrist, maximizing his Order Synchronization Rate. A silver afterimage flashed as Efnir stepped sideways and unleashed a powerful punch.
The girl only had time to cross her arms to protect her chest.
A heavy, muffled thud echoed between the two.
It was as if a car traveling at high speed had crashed into them, and a violent wind pressure erupted between the two of them. Debris was thrown up like waves by the violent shockwave, and the girl's sleeves were torn apart as if they had been shredded. The silver light shattered inch by inch and then reappeared.
The sensation from her fist told Efnir that her punch hadn't been very effective; a silver light shimmered on the girl's arm, as if something had absorbed the impact of the punch.
But Efnir's attacks did not stop there. With her elbow bent forward and her knuckles cracking, she threw another jab at the girl's neck.
The girl couldn't dodge in time and could only block with her arm while retreating.
Efnir spun sideways, delivering a whip kick that almost grazed the girl's cheek as she caught up. A burst of silver light flashed beneath Efnir's feet, causing the Stairway to form and then shatter. As she flipped over, her heel slammed down on the girl's head.
193. Anger [Nineteenth Update]
In an instant, a dull thud spread across the plaza, and even Yukina and Furan, who were far away, felt the tremor beneath their feet.
Smoke and dust rose, obscuring the figures of Efnir and the girl.
The battle here had already attracted the attention of many people, including students and teachers heading to the evacuation site, staff members who came to support the evacuation, and even Yukina and Furan, who were worried about Efnir.
Most people have never seen a battle like this.
Or rather, for most people living ordinary lives, witnessing the "magical girl Efnir" in battle for the first time is a completely new experience.
The silver-haired figure's aura, a magical power far beyond human comprehension, reverberated in their hearts time and again.
However, people gradually noticed that more and more bloodstains were appearing on Efnir's magnificent combat suit.
"It looks like Efnir won't last much longer..."
"Of course! She was hospitalized a week ago due to serious injuries, how could she recover so quickly..."
"What should we do...? They seem really strong too..."
"I hope Efnir doesn't lose?"
Efnir's latest social media activity is still a post from a few days ago; Efnir injury is no secret, and most people know about it.
This became a spark of unease among the crowd, and it escalated.
But then, someone shouted—
"Efnir!!!! Go for it!!"
Within seconds, enthusiastic responses arose from all directions.
"Come on!"
"Beat her!"
A wave of support arose from the crowd.
"Naoko! Are you alright?"
While dealing with the "dog"-type Erosion Entity, luring it away from the crowd and launching her own attack, Yukina called out to Efnir.
The cheers from the crowd grew louder and louder. While others could notice that something was wrong with Efnir, Yukina naturally noticed it early on as well.
"Your injuries haven't healed yet, Naoko!..."
But there was no response to Yukina's calls; only muffled thuds came from where Efnir and the girl were fighting.
Yukina gritted her teeth. The battle between Efnir and the girl was fierce. Yukina wanted to help Efnir, but the Erosion Entity in front of her blocked her way.
She was still just a newcomer.
His use of power is too clumsy; despite his high potential as an agent, he is unable to unleash his full potential.
She had been dealing with the "dog"-shaped Erosion Entity for half a minute.
In that half minute, Efnir and the girl had engaged in several exchanges of attack and defense, each one a resounding thud that shook the very core of Yukina's heart.