◈ Chapter 94
Deep in the forest.
Cheshire and Alice were walking, sharing stories from the past one by one. As if they were people who hadn’t met in a long time.
“Haa… When I first met you, I never thought you’d change like this…”
“Please don’t bring up that time. It’s not a particularly good memory for either of us, is it?”
When Alice first met Cheshire, she was overwhelmed by his energy.
The scent of an Insider… something unimaginable looking at her now.
There was a stark difference between the Cheshire of now and the Cheshire of the past. Like Alice now, Cheshire back then didn’t belong to any office, but no one at any office treated Cheshire like a stranger.
Of course, Cheshire’s overwhelming force was behind that….
Back then, unlike now, he didn’t get tired after using his superpower a few times. No matter how long the battle, he would advance relentlessly, crushing enemies with gravity over and over.
Well, it might be obvious, but… Cheshire back then didn’t have the experience he has now. He didn’t need it.
“Whenever you tried to do something… you’d get all nervous and say ‘I understand… I understand…’ It was so cute I thought I’d go crazy…”
“…Ahem.”
And Alice back then wasn’t as dry as she is now. She was the very image of a fresh rookie, not even a year into being a Fixer.
“But you still haven’t broken the habit of carrying around loads of stuff…”
“That actually helps. That’s why I’ve kept doing it for over 5 years now.”
“Heehee…. I guess so…. But isn’t that largely thanks to the coat I made for you…?”
“Mm, I admit that.”
As they walked, chatting leisurely, time was passing quickly. They had already reached the spot marked as the turning point.
“Looks like we turn back from here.”
“…Yeah.”
But Cheshire’s voice had dropped low. As if he sensed something unsettling.
“…What’s wrong?”
“No… it might be my imagination… but something seems off…”
“Now that you mention it…”
Rustle, rustle.
The Flooded District is a district where only the “forest” has been artificially restored.
Attempts to restore ecosystems other than plants have not yet been made.
So if something is moving among the grass and trees…. it must be an artificial object.
And considering that it’s made by humans, humans could also be considered artificial objects.
“That kind of movement…”
“It looks like they’ve received systematic training. There’s no wasted motion in their steps.”
The number is about 5. Not many.
But it wasn’t a good situation. Neither Alice nor Cheshire had brought weapons, and it wasn’t feasible to retrieve anything from Cheshire’s storage in this situation.
If necessary, they needed to regroup with Kyle’s party, and to do that, they couldn’t waste Cheshire’s superpower.
Gradually, the forms of the enemies began to appear in the distance.
White robes, with ivory masks.
“…Magicians? But… there are 5 of them.”
“5, you say…?”
In all the missions so far, they had confirmed only 3 Magicians. Alpha, Beta, and Omega.
But suddenly 5 Magicians? It’s not something easily understood.
“…Let me take the lead a bit…”
“Don’t do that. You know we need to conserve your superpower.”
“I think I need to test the waters a little…”
“I’ll do it.”
With those words, Alice slowly walked towards them without surrounding herself with lightning.
Since the Magicians had also spotted Alice, there was no sudden commotion.
They lock eyes and begin probing each other.
Alice knows their purpose, and the Magicians know Alice’s purpose. Perhaps it could be called a shared goal.
To subdue the enemy before them.
“Hup!”
Alice surrounded her legs and arms with lightning and charged at just one Magician positioned in the center.
Why choose the center? There was no particular reason. It was based on the vague idea that leaders usually stand in the center.
“Gahk!!”
BANG!!!!!
She charged in prepared to possibly get injured by a counterattack, but….
“Kuhk, kak. Kuheok…”
The Magician standing proudly in the center flew back pathetically and slammed into a tree after taking Alice’s single punch.
“…Huh?”
Alice was a bit taken aback by this. None of the Magicians she had faced so far would take such a straightforward attack.
“Urgh, form ranks! Cooperate to use ‘earth-moving magic’!”
At that, the 4 Magicians formed a small arc formation and let out a battle cry.
“…What are you doing?”
The ‘earth-moving magic’ they spoke of was similar to Beta’s superpower.
A considerable number of stone spikes sprouted from the ground, and Alice had to use some footwork along with her superpower to avoid them.
But that was all.
“Hup.”
Alice charged again, this time attacking all 4 simultaneously.
Not a single one reacted to Alice’s lightning-clad martial arts.
Thud, whack, thud, thud.
With four kicks, the four Magicians fell, and Alice stood still, feeling something was off.
“…The Magicians weren’t this weak before, I believe.”
An inexplicable sense of emptiness, but there was no time to dwell on it. Alice ran to Cheshire and gestured for him to open a rift, and Cheshire immediately created a rift leading to Kyle and Sora.
~ In the forest, quite some time before Alice and Cheshire encountered the Magicians.
“…You guys….”
About 10 Magicians had surrounded Kyle and Sora.
It was a tense situation where a battle could break out at any moment, and there were no superpowered allies like Cheshire or Alice to rely on nearby.
Moreover, Sora was completely a non-combatant. Kyle had to fight 10 superpowered individuals while protecting Sora.
“Wh-what do we do. What should we…”
“…Gather whatever objects you can find around and protect yourself as best you can. I’ll figure something out.”
Sora nodded shakily, and one of the Magicians watching spoke up.
“Kyle Sherlock, correct?”
“What if I am?”
“Lady Beta was right. If you surrender quietly, we won’t harm you. Our only target is Alice Malo.”
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t slightly tempted by those words.
Even if Kyle and Sora were taken hostage, Alice would find a way to rescue them somehow.
Then wouldn’t it be the right choice to avoid conflict here, conserve strength, and then join forces to attack when Alice and Cheshire arrived?
He had that thought, very briefly.
“I don’t want to.”
But he refuses.
“…You make a foolish choice.”
“Whether it’s foolish or not, we’ll have to see.”
Kyle charged at them barehanded.
There were two reasons for this decision:
First. They didn’t subdue them immediately upon making eye contact.
The safest and most effective method is to move to subdue the hostages right away without saying anything.
It doesn’t give the opponent a chance to respond, and can break the hostages’ will to resist by intimidating them.
And second.
‘…Most of the Magicians are carrying weapons.’
The guns and melee weapons hanging at their waists. That was decisive.
Most superpowered individuals don’t carry separate weapons. Weapons are heavy and cumbersome. If you can sufficiently subdue an opponent using superpowers, weapons are just extra baggage.
Of course, there are exceptions like Alice Malo, but that’s generally the case.
When Kyle charged, the Magicians visibly panicked. Some drew their weapons while others gathered to perform some kind of ritual.
As expected, it was as he thought.
These were different from the real Magicians Kyle’s group had seen before. Not to say they were fake, but they clearly seemed like inferior versions.
Kyle deliberately didn’t run at full speed on his first charge. Since he has decent base physical abilities, he can reach sufficient speed even with moderate effort.
And most importantly….
Bang!!
When he saw them about to pull the trigger.
Before a person acts, the surrounding muscles show movement.
If you catch that with observation and then accelerate, you can slip through the gaps.
Bang! Bang bang!!
Bullets whizzed past Kyle, grazing his arms and the edges of his body.
Agonizing pain pierced through, but with the adrenaline surging through his body, he could move as if it were nothing.
“Gahk!!”
He dove at one of them preparing to fire again, snatched away their weapon, subdued them and used them as a shield.
“Stop!! If you fire, your comrade’s life is forfeit.”
At that, those holding weapons flinched. In this short time, Kyle had to slowly create distance from them and look for the next opening.
-Crack crack crack…!!
Suddenly, stones erupted from the ground.
“What the-!”
Stone spears flying straight for his legs, Kyle shoved the hostage forward to dodge them and jumped.
He landed unsteadily, prepared for follow-up attacks, but fortunately no more stone pillars emerged.
“…They use their powers together?”
Observing those who weren’t attacking, they were standing in an arc formation with both hands gathering something.
His guess was correct. These were minor copies of the real Magicians.
To use their abilities, they need to gather power, and some of them have to buy time with weapons for that.
If you understand the principle, breaking through is simple.
However….
“A-are you okay? You’re, you’re bleeding.”
Sora was behind him.
If he were alone, he would charge in recklessly, fighting while snatching away weapons. But with two people, it’s a different story.
It’s nearly impossible to take them all down while being careful not to let Sora get captured.
“Oh, I’m fine. This much is an everyday thing. You know that.”
“B-but you got shot…”
“Instead of saying that, focus on running away well.”
Bang!!
As soon as he let go of the hostage, the next gunfire came flying. Unlike before when they were aiming for arms and legs, this time they were clearly targeting vital points like the head and chest.
Kyle rolled to the side to dodge the bullets, then charged towards the Magicians who were concentrating.
At that moment, he felt an intense pain in his side.
“Gahk…!!”
Beside him stood a Magician with a suspicious shimmer around his hand.
“…I heard you were powerless, but you fight quite well. I’ll give you credit for that.”
Only then did Kyle realize what had hit him.
Wind. It was wind.
The air pressure emanating from his fist had struck Kyle’s side.
5 Magicians. About equivalent to one rock mage.
Plus 4 Magicians. 4 ordinary gunmen.
And… a Magician throwing wind-wrapped punches. This one alone was displaying enough combat ability to be called a superpowered individual.
“…Kuh. Really, why do I keep getting caught up in these situations?”
“If you surrender now…”
“Shut your trap.”
Kyle raised his gun and fired at the wind-fist Magician, but it was blocked all too easily by the man’s fist.
“…A pity. Then, we won’t hold back.”
Crack crack!!
Once again, earth spears erupted from the ground, and wind flew at him from the front.
On top of that, bullets were flying from all directions.
What counterattack was possible here?
Nothing but escape.
“Hup…!”
He executed several back handsprings to dodge the earth spears while deflecting the wind fist using the principle of redirecting the opponent’s force.
The bullets… unfortunately, he had to take some of them with his body.
Several bullets lodged in his arms and legs, and blood sprayed.
His right arm, which had taken an especially large number of bullets, no longer had any feeling. It meant he had lost control of it.
“…This is insane.”
“Ah, ah. Wh-what should we… ah…”
“Sora, run away right now without looking back. Got it?”
“B-but. If, if we do that…”
“It’s okay, I won’t die. Run, now!!”
With words that might be the most common last words, Kyle clutched his tattered right arm and moved away from Sora.
Sora squeezed her eyes shut and ran in the opposite direction from Kyle, following his words.