Utter defeat

When those construction vehicles went on a rampage, charging all the way from Edogawa Ward toward Shinjuku, they alerted not only the Metropolitan Police Department's traffic officers, but also the Time-Space Administration Bureau.

Chrono had been leading a squad of Mages to visit the great Mage Clow Reed. Upon receiving the news, he immediately rushed to Shinjuku.

The news also reached Haiming City.

At the Takamachi Residence, Nanoha was a fifth-year student at Private Seishou Elementary School.

Two years earlier, during the Jewel Seed Incident, she had encountered the world of magic and received her own Device, Raising Heart, from Yuno. From then on, she had become a Magical Girl.

For the time being, she held no official position in the Time-Space Administration Bureau, serving as an External Member eligible for full membership.

It was not that the Bureau was keeping her from joining. After the Jewel Seed Incident, assessments had already rated her as an AA-rank Mage. An AA-rank Mage so young was a rare talent even within the Time-Space Administration Bureau.

Not formally joining yet had been Nanoha's own decision. After all, she was only in her fifth year of elementary school. It was too early to decide whether she wanted a career as a civil servant in the Bureau.

Nanoha had other dreams, too, such as becoming a pastry chef. Teaching sounded nice as well. She did not want to make that decision yet.

The Time-Space Administration Bureau respected Nanoha's wishes. It was a legitimate official organization, after all, and would not forcibly conscript people to fill its ranks. The Bureau had granted her External Member status, allowing her to choose to join or leave at any time.

As an External Member, Nanoha would not be actively assigned missions by the Bureau. But since the incident had occurred on Earth, in a city near her, she was still informed right away.

Taking up Raising Heart once again, Nanoha chose to transform.

Meanwhile, Chrono had encountered a formidable enemy.

His entire squad, a full ten Mages, had been taken down by a strange Magical Girl in just three minutes.

The girl used long-range magical firearms with absurdly high accuracy and power. The squad's standard magical equipment could not withstand them at all. Only Chrono's Device, the Roland Holy Sword, had held up against her ranged weapons.

It was a prototype special Device that Admiral Graham had ordered developed and entrusted to him.

Even so, this holy sword capable of freezing all things could not gain the upper hand against the strange girl.

Her magic was too bizarre. It was neither Mid-Childan Style nor Belkan Style, but an entirely new form of magic he had never seen before.

"Who exactly are you? State your purpose, or I will issue a warrant for your arrest in the name of the Time-Space Administration Bureau."

No matter how powerful she was, Chrono was certain she could not stand against the entire Time-Space Administration Bureau alone.

She had gained the upper hand only because the Bureau lacked intelligence.

At the same time, however, Chrono noticed that the fallen squad members were merely unconscious, with no fatal injuries. That proved she was not utterly ruthless. For that reason, Chrono had refrained from lethal attacks as well, merely using the Roland Holy Sword's freezing effect to restrict her movements.

The girl did not appreciate his restraint.

Tiriye was fast, racing down the road on a modified motorcycle and, for a time, leaving Chrono scrambling to keep up.

Suddenly, the wheels of Tiriye's motorcycle locked up. It skidded to a halt, leaving a long mark across the road, and she nearly fell off.

She had not hit the brakes herself. The wheels had been immobilized. Looking down, Tiriye discovered that binding magic had entangled them, and the spell had not come from Chrono.

Less than a hundred meters ahead on the road stood a girl dressed in pure white, holding a magical staff.

Cherry-red magical energy blossomed-the color of Raising Heart.

"Nanoha Takamachi!"

Tiriye recognized her. She had appeared in Iris's files. According to the information Iris had gathered, the combat ability Nanoha had displayed during the Jewel Seed Incident two years earlier had been at least AA-rank.

With another two years of growth, she might even have broken through to AAA-rank.

"You know me?"

"Of course. Not just you, but her over there, too. Fate Testarossa, right?" Iris looked up into the sky, where a blonde girl hovered with a laser battle-axe in hand, looking down at her.

"I've investigated you-the Time-Space Administration Bureau's elites."

One, two, three.

Three Mages. Chrono faced her head-on with the Roland Holy Sword, Nanoha Takamachi provided suppression from a distance with Raising Heart, and Fate, the wielder of Raising Heart, stood ready to support them from the side.

Against a lineup like this, even a high-ranking AAA-rank Mage could only go down in defeat.

Yet Tiriye's expression did not change.

"I only came to borrow the Book of Darkness, to save my dad and my planet. I have no intention of making trouble for your Time-Space Administration Bureau."

"You want the Book of Darkness?" Only then did Chrono learn her purpose.

"Yes. As long as you hand over the Book of Darkness, I'll leave quietly. I won't hurt anyone."

Nanoha and Fate were both bewildered. They had never heard of any Book of Darkness, so they could only watch Chrono speak with her.

If possible, neither Nanoha nor Fate wanted to fight anyone. If they could clear up the misunderstanding simply by talking, that would be ideal.

But Chrono shook his head.

"Sorry, but we cannot give you the Book of Darkness."

Because the Book of Darkness was not in the Time-Space Administration Bureau's possession.

"Then negotiations have broken down? What a shame." Tiriye took a deep breath. "System Reversal: Accelerated Drive!"

In an instant, subtle changes appeared in Tiriye's protective clothing, its outline wavering like rising heat. The next second, she suddenly vanished. Before Chrono could react, the girl appeared before him as though she had teleported, her fist already swinging toward his head.

His long years of combat experience allowed Chrono to narrowly retreat half a meter. Using that fleeting opening, he raised his holy sword and caught her fist on its blade.

Even so, the tremendous force transmitted through the Roland Holy Sword sent Chrono flying backward.

Almost simultaneously, Tiriye appeared before Fate. Fate was not so lucky-the fist slammed squarely into her face.

"Fate!" Nanoha instinctively moved to save her friend, only for another fist to appear just as abruptly. Before she could react at all, it smashed into her cheek as well.

The entire sequence took less than a second. Tiriye's speed was unbelievable.

System Reversal was the most powerful skill in formula magic, capable of multiplying strength, reflexes, and speed severalfold. The price was enormous consumption.

It was an ability that could not be sustained.

But it was already enough. For a short time, it allowed Tiriye's combat ability to break through the barrier to S-Class—an entirely different realm.

S-Class meant legendary.

In theory, S-Class came directly above A-rank. In practice, however, a vast gulf separated the two, which was why the subdivisions of AA and AAA existed.

Nanoha and Fate were both AA-rank at this point. At their age, that was nothing short of a miracle. Their trials on the battlefield during the Jewel Seed Incident had allowed them to reach such heights.

Chrono, meanwhile, was AAA-rank.

Utter defeat. The battle had ended in a single instant.

Chrono had not suffered much injury. Bracing himself on his holy sword, he stood up again.

"What, you still want to stop me?"

To be honest, the boy's strength had somewhat exceeded Tiriye's expectations. If formula magic had not been far more efficient than ordinary magic, she would have been no match for him in terms of actual magical attainment.

"When I said we couldn't give you the Book of Darkness, it was because the Time-Space Administration Bureau doesn't have it. It's in the hands of a great Mage from the Age of the Gods."

"A great Mage from the Age of the Gods? How is that possible!"