I tried to manifest a magic circle to blast them off—but the circle flickered and dissipated into mist.
"Wait… don't tell me!"
I knew this feeling. It was the same sensation from the incident at Auros Academy.
"If those catch you…" Bell said softly, "…you can't use magic."
"That's not all… these tentacles… they're draining my strength!"
The moment I was caught, my power began to plummet. Even with Dill-chan's spear, I couldn't break free. Alice-san might have been able to help, but I had sent her to reinforce Dill. I had to get through this alone!
"…You can't. With Big Sister's power… you can't beat Bell."
Bell pointed her hand at me. A magic circle expanded, locking onto its target. As the seconds ticked by, the glow of the circle grew more intense, more malevolent. To make matters worse, the tentacles tightened their grip, making my bones creak and sending jolts of agony through my body.
Despite the pain, I didn't feel the panic I'd felt back then. I grit my teeth and forced a smile.
Bell looked at me, her expression flickering with confusion. "…Why are you smiling?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just impressed with myself. My timing was perfect."
"…?"
Bell tilted her head in a cute, confused gesture.
In the next instant, a roar thundered from the heavens. We both looked up to see a swarm of meteors falling from the sky.
"—Meteor Shower. It's a delayed-trigger spell I set up as a backup. Magic-sealing doesn't mean much against a spell that's already been cast, does it?"
"…!"
Bell's sleepy eyes widened in shock. A moment later, the rain of stars came crashing down.
▽
"Alice-san and the others… they're okay, right?"
I stood amidst the ravaged wasteland left behind by the meteor strike and muttered to myself.
That spell is so hard to calibrate. Well, technically, I shouldn't be holding back against an opponent like this, but I really risked hitting my allies. Normally, I'd have to cover everyone in a defensive barrier before casting it… but I didn't have the luxury this time.
…It's fine, it's fine. I didn't hit anyone but the enemies! Probably!
As I wiped cold sweat from my brow and tried to convince myself everything was okay, Bell emerged from the settling dust.
"I guess expecting you to be unscathed was asking too much."
Bell was bleeding from several wounds. It seemed she hadn't been able to block the attack completely, though she had taken less damage than I'd hoped. To take a hit like that and still be standing…
"…Big Sister. That was reckless," Bell said. "Cheating."
"I don't want to hear that from you!"
Why did the girl who was being more "reckless" and "cheating" than anyone else get to call me out!? I mean, I was being reckless, but still!
Suddenly, Bell held up her finger. There was a smear of red blood on the tip. She seemed to be showing it to me.
"…This. Big Sister's blood."
"My blood…?"
I realized I had several cuts of my own. The shoulder where Lisha's clone had shot me was still bleeding.
"What are you going to do with that?"
"…Mm. I'm going to paint."
Bell began to trace her finger through the air. The image she drew was a silhouette of a doll—it looked exactly like me. For a second, I braced myself for a clone, but she made no move to summon one.
While I watched her with suspicion, Bell flicked the arm of the silhouette.
Slash!
The sound of tearing flesh echoed, and a sharp pain shot through my own arm. I looked down. A deep gash had appeared on my bicep.
"Is this…!?"
Bell flicked the leg of the silhouette next. Just like before, a stinging pain flared in my thigh, and a fresh cut appeared.
Don't tell me… if she uses the target's blood to draw them, any damage she does to the painting is reflected on the person?
As I reached that grim conclusion, Bell tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"…As I thought. Big Sister is strong. Normally… bones would break. But Big Sister only gets cuts."
So the severity of the wound depends on the target's strength. Because I was in my God-Princess form, I was only getting superficial cuts, but otherwise, she would have been snapping my limbs like dry twigs. What a terrifying ability…!
"HAAAAAAAH!"
While I was reeling from the horror of Bell's hidden power, something slammed into the ground between us. The earth erupted as if hit by a bunker-buster.
In the center of the massive crater, Vika and Alice-san were clashing.
"Just stay down already!" Alice-san yelled.
"You're the one who should give up!" Vika countered. "Trying to beat me with only one hand? Don't make me laugh!"
One hand?
Confused by Vika's words, I looked closer at Alice-san. I realized she was clutching something to her chest. In her left arm, she was cradling a blood-stained girl.
"Miu-chan! Take care of her!"
Alice-san tossed the girl toward me. I caught her, only to realize she was in critical condition.
"Dill-chan!?"
Her body was riddled with puncture wounds and the distinct marks of Holy Bullets. Smoke was rising from the wounds—likely the lingering effect of the holy energy. Her breathing was shallow, her heartbeat faint and erratic…
At this rate…!
"Stay with me! Dill-chan! Hey, Dill-chan! —SARA!!"
She didn't respond. In desperation, I screamed her true name.
[Miu Side Out]
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