A Magical Anomaly

Chapter 16 Combat End

----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------

Choice Made:

[X] She's not really paying attention to her footwork… or her surroundings… you could probably teach her a lesson on that. There's a rather conveniently placed manhole cover near you. A bit of timing and effort, and you can probably use it to take out her legs. Then just give her a good hit to the head to knock her out. (Takedown Guaranteed) (+1 Bad Positioning Trauma) (2 Grendel Charges Required) (-1 Chrono Charge) (+1 Chrono Core Mastery) (Will be fast enough for her not to learn of your core) (-1 Prismatic Shard)

----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------

Effects:

* Takedown

* + 1 Bad Positioning Trauma to Azure

* -1 Chrono charge

* +1 Chrono Core mastery

* -1 Prismatic Shard

* +1 Pending Reward at E rank Chrono Core Mastery

----------------------------------------

A glance at her form reveals that she's charging forward rather blindly.

Probably still disoriented from the blast to the chest and the tumble you think.

And that rage that covers her form like a blanket.

Aren't Magical Girls meant to be like… guardians and hope and justice and stuff…

You shake your head, spotting a manhole cover and humming in thought.

Perhaps its time to teach her a lesson about spacial awareness.

…God you're starting to sound like Elly now.

'I resent that remark'

Her charge is fast.

Faster then a usual one, blue energy streaming off her form as she cries out your name.

Or at least Purple's name.

You give [Curtana] a flourish, relaxing your stance even more.

She gets angrier.

Sloppier

And just that much easier to deflect.

Her blade flies out of her hand.

[Grendel's Arm] melts into view as a charge locks in place. And you slam it into the ground.

Conveniently, or perhaps strategically, having moved to above the manhole in question.

The cover flips into the air, and time slows ever so slightly as you focus on your core.

You don't force it this time. Instead you try to compress your four steps as fast as you can.

You envision the sundial slowing, but still moving.

You focus on the idea of it with all your will as you shove your fist forward.

The cover flips in the air slightly slower, giving you just a little more time to aim this perfectly.

You see Azure looking at you in surprise, eyes wide as she goes to snarl in rage.

Unfortunately… a manhole cover accelerated by your fist and the full force [Grendel's Arm] crashes into her face with a rather brutal crunching sound.

You wince as it sends her flying.

She crashes into the ground with a painful looking tumble before sliding across it to a stop.

She doesn't get up.

A quick glance to Elly and she gives you a nod.

You let out a breath. Time snapping back to its normal pace as heat hisses off your body.

Probably shouldn't try that until you know how to use your core better… but damn that was satisfying.

Didn't even need to punch her in the face.

You walk towards her, checking if shes still alive just in case. And she is.

You doubt the metal disc actually did any real damage to her… though she does have a small bruise near her forehead…

'She's at least a level 50 Magical. Even if she's lower, a physical wound like this will heal faster then most even without magical healing applied. Its surprisingly hard to actually kill a magical girl'

You hum silently.

Only takes one good hit

Elly gives you the point with a shrug.

So pick up Azures blade, sheathing it for her and putting the scabbard next to her as you lay her against a wall.

A quick ruffle through her pockets reveals a phone, and you use her finger to unlock it.

And then as an added precaution, you ask Elly to remove any fingerprints you've left when you're done.

She raises an eyebrow but agrees.

'It would be best if I inform you of an unspoken rule amongst Magical Girls now that you have access to more.. Private information amongst them. Going after those unrelated to a Magical is seen as rather abhorrent, family, friends and such. I do not think you would do such a thing, but it is best that you are explicitly aware that it could happen.'

You nod at her.

A Villain has standards. Going after family and stuff is just dishonorable, and a Villain is nothing without their honor.

And you're starting to think you're less interested about manipulating Magicals and more interested in fighting them…

That might go against the idea of helping them improve… but then again… you think Azure will be at least a little more wary of her surroundings with this.

Hopefully.

Please don't be stupid Azure…

You pinch the bridge of your nose as you imagine how many more times you're going to have to beat the meaning of awareness into this Magicial… but you probably won't attack first.

Let her learn from her own actions rather then ones you've created for her.

A glance around the area shows you that it's rather quiet…

So you quickly scroll through her phone as you keep watch.

She has an interesting contact or two. You only really pay attention to the "Aya (Argent Red)" contact.

A new message under that contact, a photo taken of Azure unconscious, and then an address to this street is sent.

And you slip the phone back into her pocket.

Hmm… The smokestack should give you a good vantage point to watch over her…

You could perch on the roof… but that's probably asking Argent to come down on top of you if she looks up even a little.

It takes ten or so minutes. But you reach the middle of the tall smoke stacks scaffolding. Five or so of that time being taken to ensure that the surroundings didn't have any… unsavory individuals nearby.

And with that. You sit and watch over her.

Maybe five more minutes go by. Around twenty minutes from her defeat. Before a red streaking meteor slams into the parking lot in a show of force.

If there was a masquerade as to the existence of Magicals, it would have been thoroughly broken by now.

You track the figure through [Gae Bolg], showing you Argents worried looking face as she looks around.

When she finds the still knocked out Azure, you hope she's just asleep and not… in a coma or something…, she rushes towards her, gently picking her and her sword up before looking around again.

'She will be fine. Her mana most likely hit zero while trying to protect her from the blow. Fae failsafes if you would.'

You nod at Elly, eye on the scope as Argent quickly searches for you or whoever took out Azure.

She never looks up of course.

Well she does, just not high enough.

And then she dashes away.

You give it ten minutes, and when she doesn't return, you sit up and stretch.

Well… that was a fun little distraction.

Definitely more interesting than that Rift you closed.

You glance at your phone, now with both Azure and Argents numbers saved in it.

You had to spend a prismatic shard while you waited, but Elly and Number 20 assured you that your number would be even more untraceable.

Idly, you wonder when you get your costume… running around in smart casual might be nice… but it doesn't really scream magical girl…

'Assuming you go rift hunting tomorrow, and are willing to part with two hundred shards… you should be able to get the costume itself… unfortunately most of the features that come with it are locked behind extra costs. Usually Mana credits, but you don't have access to those. I'm working on a… conversion? From them to shards instead… The Magical Girl System should give it to you automatically once you reach level five… but unfortunately you don't level. So I've had to convert the non-physical experience you would gain from the system into Prismatic shards and then convert that back into experience once you purchase it to trick the system into thinking you've reached the appropriate level.'

She rolls her eyes at that, and you finish dropping down the smokestack.

[Grendel's Arm] slams into the air above the ground, both charges detonating, one from each gauntlet. It sends you flying into the air, but [Babr-e Bayan] works to lessen then force you feel, and your [Angel's Halo] heals any cuts and tears from the force of that.

You land on your feet, tumbling into a roll to burn any momentum away.

Huh… Maybe you should practice using [Grendel's Arm] to move around… you could probably get some serious speed with it if you invest into it…

Maybe something to do tomorrow afternoon or night. Hm..

Elly asks if you want her to mess with Azures memories again.

And you debate saying no… but if shes as angry and vengeful as she seems…

You ask her to just mask your face… maybe literally? You trust her judgment for that.

She waves her hand.

Reality melts.

And you're back in front of your house, perfectly clean as though you'd only been walking around the neighborhood.

The door opens right as you reach it.

Dad looks at you in surprise for a moment, but doesn't say anything as he lets you in.

"Huh, maybe I'm getting precognition heh"

You snark a little via paper at him and he laughs loudly as he ruffles your hair… again.

Stupid dad.

You try to fix the damage as you head back to your room.

A quick shower.

And you pass out in your bed after replying to Alice's own goodnight.

You seriously hope Azure learns from this… or you might have to do it again…

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.