Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 584

This speed far exceeds the speed of sound.

Xiangzi almost couldn't even react.

But it was only a close call; Xiangzi's eyes still followed Norin, and he reacted before she even made contact with him.

Rumble, rumble—!

Before Norin could even move, several artillery shots rang out from below the clouds. The shells didn't fly towards Norin, but instead flew towards Xiangzi's location.

Just as Norlin arrived in front of Xiangzi, these pre-fired shells also arrived one after another.

The cannonball, with a head as thick as a forearm, accurately covered Noreen's entire body, causing ripples to spread across her skin.

Xiangzi himself took this opportunity to jump off the plane and detonate the explosives on board.

Boom——!

Flames and shells simultaneously covered the enemy's location.

Xiangzi returned to his freefall form and fell into the clouds.

After the smoke dissipated, Norlin floated unharmed in mid-air, glancing at the sea of ​​clouds that had returned to calm.

"Hidden, are you?" She weighed the Hypercausality in her hand, then brandished a pistol in her other hand, aiming it at the clouds below. "Fine, I'll play along."

==================

The whistling wind swept past my ears.

The snow clouds were colder than I had imagined; in just a short while, a thick layer of frost had formed on my face.

Xiangzi quickly recreated a fighter jet, lifting himself up.

锔——!

Before Xiangzi could even stabilize the plane, several red beams of light shot down from above the clouds, hitting the plane Xiangzi was on precisely. In an instant, the fighter jet that had just reappeared turned into a fireball.

Just as Xiangzi was about to recreate a fighter jet, the sound of a jet engine suddenly came from the clouds. Something flew down beneath him, replacing the fighter jet that should have been there, taking over the role of his vehicle, and steadily catching Xiangzi.

This familiar sense of security...

If it wasn't a fighter jet she conjured with magic, then there's only one possibility: among all the people she knows, only one person has the ability to reach this altitude, a name that brings a sense of security just by hearing it—Chu Hua.

"Chuhua, is that you?"

Xiangzi gripped the scale-like protrusion beside her and stood firmly on the back of the flying object. For some reason, she felt that this layer of primordial energy, now transformed into life, was different from before.

"Um, sorry I'm late." Chu Hua's voice came from a little way ahead.

“I can do it all by myself,” Xiangzi said instinctively. “The remaining magic power can create many more fighter jets.”

“But Xiao Xiang would need to consume a lot of magic to recreate a vehicle that can support him,” Chu Hua said. “If I were to be that vehicle, Xiao Xiang could focus more on that wicked woman.”

"......"

"And I've also accumulated a lot of resentment."

"Actually, I've only met her once before," Xiangzi instinctively defended himself. "It's all her fault..."

"I wasn't talking about that bad woman," Chu Hua smiled. "I was talking about my own time. I kept saying I had things I wanted to do, but when I actually encountered problems, I had to rely on Xiao Xiang for help."

“I hate myself for being unable to do anything. I wanted to do something for Xiao Xiang, so when I saw Xiao Xiang being taken to the sky by her, I rushed up without hesitation.”

".......Thank you."

"But Xiao Xiang, don't forget, we're only working towards the same goal for now," Chu Hua joked. "I'll do my best to achieve my goal."

“Let’s wait until we’ve dealt with the last enemy before that.” Xiangzi patted the scales beneath him, a slight smile playing on his lips. “But how did you do that? Can a living being do that?”

The roar of flames erupted on both sides of his ears, and when Xiangzi turned his head, he could see the nozzles gleaming with a crimson light in the clouds.

Is this a jet-powered flight system?

However, after everyone's super-causality was taken back, Hatsuka should have turned back into an ordinary magical girl, and Hyakko's abilities were weakened back to their original level. It should be impossible for her to transform into some kind of construct and grow steel wings.

Is this... a living being?

"As long as it's a living being, even a fantastical one, it can take on a hundred forms—don't underestimate the power of human imagination! This is an inspiration I found in a certain game." Chu Hua's voice sounded quite cheerful. "It was only recently developed, and it took a lot of time to adapt it... It just consumes a lot of magic power, so I might need your help, Xiao Xiang."

Chu Hua refers to the Lament Cube that Norin had previously thrown at Xiangzi, which was said to be "worth ten thousand." After the nuclear bomb was recreated, about one-third of it remains.

Xiangzi's ability to use magic so recklessly is also due to his reliance on this thing.

"It's alright, there are far fewer of these than fighter jets reappearing," Xiangzi said with emotion. "Is this a giant silver dragon? Although it's not clear from the clouds, it must be very beautiful."

"I guess so," Chu Hua replied somewhat awkwardly.

If she is a silver dragon, then Xiao Xiang is now a dragon knight. Aren't dragon knights the kind who ride dragons during the day and... cough cough, now is not the time to think about such things!

She shook her head, looking for an opportunity to change the subject.

"What should we do now? Should we retreat temporarily?"

"I want to stay in the clouds a little longer; I have some things I want to arrange," Xiangzi said. "Thanks to you, I feel like we have a much better chance of winning."

"Does Xiaoxiang have some kind of method?" Chu Hua said. "It seems like she absorbs any kind of attack."

"That's how it seems, but there's always an upper limit."

"But she seems to have solved two-thirds of the Grief Cube you used. We can't reach that limit right now."

They only have one-third of the Grief Cube left, how could they possibly reach its limit? Any normal person would think that way, and Xiangzi thought so at first too. However, everyone overlooked something very important.

"No, it's achievable," Xiangzi said firmly. "And it's not just possible, it's certain."

"How is that possible? We clearly already... Wait, could it be that Xiao Xiang is thinking of—" Chu Hua seemed to realize something.

"Just as you think." Xiangzi patted the silver scales beneath him. "We're going to win in one fell swoop."

===============

Norlin lingered on the sea of ​​clouds for several minutes, but Xiangzi did not appear.

Her iris is covered with the same nanodisplays as her subordinates, which help her capture targets and perform thermal imaging—the same function of these nanodisplays.

Previously, she had captured images of fighter jets in the clouds using thermal imaging.

But since that first crash, she hasn't seen such a clear heat source again. Either the other party lowered their altitude significantly, or they escaped?

Did they really run away?

Norlin clicked her tongue.

Just as she was about to lose her patience, she suddenly saw a heat source growing larger and larger, rushing towards the top of the sea of ​​clouds.

"Is it finally here?" Norlin raised her finger gun and aimed it at the clouds below.

Bang bang bang——!

Several crimson laser beams shot out from the fingertips and pierced into the clouds, but the expected explosion did not occur. The huge heat source continued to rise, rise, and rise.

Until it pierced through the sea of ​​clouds.

A monster with wings on its back that looked like jet nozzles burst out of the sea of ​​clouds, carrying a blue-haired girl on its back, and flew straight toward Norlin.

The monster was enormous, about twenty meters tall. Its pair of alien wings on its back spewed out crimson flames billowing black smoke, just like rocket thrusters, covering a distance of over a thousand meters in just a second or two.

Whoosh-!

A jet-fighter-like monster flew past Norin, and the girl standing on its back made eye contact with Norin.

Xiangzi gave her a defiant look, and then quickly flew away in another direction.

Norlin turned back in the direction they had flown off, her eyes stinging from the dazzling sunset.

Above the sea of ​​clouds, the sun is slowly setting, and directly below it lies a sea of ​​clouds that covers the entire reed plain.

Chase?

Of course we should pursue it.

Even though the mission was completed, the seaweed in the air being shot down before her eyes was her fault, and she had to make amends for it.

Of course, this is just an excuse.

What she wanted most was Toyokawa Shoko, the girl who had the chance to tuck her tail between her legs and run away, enjoying the joy of surviving a disaster, but resolutely decided to turn back and challenge herself.

It's getting more and more exciting!

The silver surfer gazed at the human and dragon soaring towards the sunset, unable to suppress a smile. She leaned down, fixing her gaze intently on them.

Her figure vanished, transforming into a thin silver line.

Only after Norlin had completely disappeared did the deafening roar that broke the sound barrier finally begin.

"Chuhua, she's gone!" Xiangzi suddenly exclaimed. "Oh no, she's down there!"

The dragon's body began rolling to the right the moment Xiangzi cried out in alarm. Xiangzi clung tightly to the bulge on Chuhua's back to avoid being thrown off. Almost simultaneously, a blurry, silvery figure, tinged red by the setting sun, burst forth from the sea of ​​clouds below, accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air.

A timely rolling maneuver caused the two to miss Norlin.

"That speed exceeds Mach 3! Doesn't she need time to accelerate?! How did she manage a 90-degree right-angle maneuver?!" Xiangzi stared incredulously in the direction where the silver shadow had disappeared once again. "Is physics dead?!"

Norin was much faster than the dragon that Chu Hua had transformed into, and the distance between them was constantly shrinking. In order to avoid being caught up by her directly, Chu Hua had no choice but to increase the spray from the nozzles once again.

The crimson flames turned into billowing smoke at the end, and the dragon's speed increased once again.

But even with the increased speed, they still couldn't shake off Norlin's pursuit.

This time, Noreen descended from the sky.

The view from above was much better than from below. This time, Xiangzi spotted Norlin's location in advance. Several red lasers shot downwards, but were blocked by the steel wall of the vault that Xiangzi instantly recreated. The steel wall was hit by the lasers, and the entire wall turned a scorching red, representing high temperature, before exploding with a loud bang.

The molten iron fell into the clouds, making a sizzling sound.

The energy acquired does not necessarily have to be released immediately, meaning that Norin has room to store energy between absorption and release.

It's unknown how much energy she has stored, or how long she can store it. Judging from her current performance, the red laser that Norlin fired, or "released," was probably obtained from the miniature nuclear bomb that Xiangzi sent into the sky, and it's far from exhausted.

However, after several rounds of exchanges, Xiangzi had figured out some of what she wanted. Although she couldn't determine the specifics of the abilities, time was running out.

"Descend the altitude." Xiangzi patted Chuhua on the shoulder. "To the bottom of the Yunjiu Liuliu Temple."

"So fast?" Chu Hua said in surprise, "The original plan was to drag it out a bit more..."

"I'm getting to know her, and she's getting to know us. If we go back and forth a couple more times, we'll miss our chance."

Chu Hua nodded and began to descend, the tips of her wings smoothly cutting through the cloud carpet below, gradually disappearing into the cold sea of ​​clouds.

There was no splash as expected, nor did any water droplets appear; the silver dragon submerged beneath the surface of the sea.

Once inside the sea of ​​clouds, it becomes difficult to locate oneself.

Xiangzi had initially held onto this hope, but when Norlin shot her down for the first time, she knew the enemy must have some way of locating her. Therefore, entering the Cloud Sea might actually put her in a disadvantageous position. Just now, she had confirmed this even more after several rounds of firefights.

It may be disadvantageous to oneself, but it is also an opportunity.

What if the other party is not targeting herself, but the object carrying her? Heat source, yes, it could be a heat source. Even if it's not a heat source, but speed or something, judging from the results of these tests, the other party is not targeting the person on Chu Hua's back, but Chu Hua herself.

Now that we've figured this out, entering the sea of ​​clouds will be our moment to launch a counterattack.

Amidst the sea of ​​clouds, a giant dragon, resembling an unidentified flying object, traversed amidst intermittent lightning and crimson laser beams.

The flames from the nozzles, accompanied by a roar like an engine, suddenly turned, tumbled, rose, and fell between ice crystals and water vapor, resembling a crimson meteor. The sound of the wingtips cutting through the air became a roar that tore at the eardrums.

She was fighting off the relentless pursuers behind her.

The silver skateboard seemed unrestrained by the laws of physics, arbitrarily stopping and turning in mid-air, chasing after the crimson meteor, as if toying with it, constantly moving back and forth around Chu Hua.

But it wasn't that Norline really wanted to toy with him; rather, every time she got close to him, an "accident" would happen.

Explosions, countless explosions. Every time I got close, there would be an explosion somewhere, and I knew without a doubt that it was Xiangzi's doing.

Xiangzi buried a lot of explosives in the clouds. The location and triggering method of these explosives were completely random. Although they could not hurt her, the high temperature area created by the explosion would completely disable the portable thermal imaging in her eyes, thus further blurring her judgment. Several times, the duck that was about to be caught flew away.

She could only keep pushing him down below the clouds. Once he was below the clouds, there would be no room for Xiangzi to set up any booby traps or other traps.

Thus, the two figures locked in combat unknowingly descended below the clouds, leaving a dark red trail in the wind and snow.

Chu Hua returned to the snow-covered reed plains, but also lost her most important protective layer.

Norlin finally caught Chu Hua by the tail, physically.

"Finally caught you—"

Boom!

Chu Hua was slammed hard to the ground, creating a huge crater right in the center of Helheim's barrier.