Chapter 61: Missing Person

"Misaki, get some distance from Mika. I’m leaving command of the Eighth Squad to you."

"…You’re planning to face her alone? That’s reckless. At least take two people with you."

"…No, it’s fine. I need you to provide support. Have the Princess and two others cover me from mid-range. The rest should follow your orders and focus on interference. If you can spare a few to assist the squad leader’s treatment, do that as well."

"Got it."

Giving her orders to the Eighth Squad, Saori began walking forward—slowly, steadily.

"Ah, done already? I was getting bored waiting."

"…"

She swallowed the boiling rage within, forcing herself to appear calm.

Suou had been hurt. Hiyori had been hurt. And then Mika mocked Atsuko’s speech—the undeniable proof of Saori’s own helplessness.

She didn’t know what kind of circumstances Mika carried, but no matter what they were, they could never justify what she’d done. That much was certain.

"…You’re calmer than I expected."

Mika’s tone was casual, but her eyes were sharp. Saori’s composure was unexpected—and precisely what Mika wanted to shatter.

"…"

"Well, I guess that makes sense."

Might as well push her buttons a little more, she thought.

"So that’s the depth of your bond, huh?"

"—!!"

Fortunately, Mika excelled at being cruel. Words that cut through others came easily to her.

"…Leader, we’re angry too. Stay calm."

Misaki’s voice came through the comm, cooling Saori’s fury just before it overflowed.

"…Misono Mika."

"What is it, Saori-chan? You’re making such a scary face."

At last, the distance between them vanished. They stood face to face, glaring at each other from point-blank range.

"You…"

There was so much she wanted to ask. Why are you doing this? For what purpose?

But above all—

"You—!"

Words failed her. What spilled out instead was pure anger. Even Mika’s pointless taunts grated against her nerves.

"I’ll beat the hell out of you!!"

Saori’s right arm flared with radiant light, overflowing with mystic energy.

With a sharp step forward, she drove her fist straight into Mika’s face—just slightly lower due to their height difference.

"—!"

And with that, the battle began.

A battle that Kirihana Suou, of all people, would have least wanted to happen.

"Ow, that really hurts!!"

"—!!"

Mika swung her fist. Saori leapt back with all her strength to avoid it.

"Kh…!"

The sheer force behind Mika’s punch was monstrous. A shiver ran down Saori’s spine, but she forced herself to focus and counter.

"All units, fall back! Leader, don’t fight Mika head-on—it’s suicide! I’ll set traps, can you lure her in?"

Misaki’s voice crackled through the comm again. Saori couldn’t spare the breath to respond—she only flicked her gaze in acknowledgment.

"You’ve got time to look away?"

"—!!"

Mika suddenly appeared right in front of her, arms snapping forward to grab her.

"Damn—!"

Saori ducked low at the last second and swept at Mika’s legs, trying to break her stance.

"Whoa—what, a tree trunk!?"

But Mika’s monstrous strength and balance made it useless.

Saori pushed through her shock and retaliated—mystic bullets bursting from her gun.

"Mm… yeah, that stings a bit."

"—!?"

Smoke poured from the impact points, yet Mika only smiled awkwardly.

"Not rough enough, huh?"

With those incomprehensible words, she slammed her foot into the ground.

"Kh—!!"

The earth cracked, split, and caved in beneath them.

A completely unexpected move—Saori couldn’t dodge in time and lost her footing.

"Then I’ll start with you, Saori-chan…"

"—!"

Mika lunged forward, her fist following through. Saori kicked off the ground, barely leaping into the air.

"Ahaha, perfect target."

"What—!?"

Mika grabbed one of the shattered rocks and flooded it with mystic power.

"That’s…!"

The same kind of power that had forced Hiyori to retreat earlier.

There was no time to think. Saori focused completely on evasion.

"That won’t be enough to dodge it."

"Kh…!!"

What should she do? Imitate Suou’s trick with the explosives to redirect her movement? No—the risk was too great.

What Suou had done—enduring the blast and steering herself through sheer will—was near impossible.

Then what? That attack would definitely hit—and if it did, she was finished.

"…!"

Then it hit her. She didn’t need to dodge. Because—

"Ah—!? That hurts!!"

—she wasn’t fighting alone.

"F-First…!!"

Mika flinched as bullets from Atsuko and the others struck her. In that instant, a rocket round followed—carefully adjusted so Saori wouldn’t be caught in the blast. Misaki’s handiwork, no doubt.

"…"

Saori seized the brief opening to imbue her bullets with mystic energy.

To the limit. Beyond reason. With everything she had.

She was allowed only three shots. No more, no less.

As the smoke began to clear, she aimed.

"…There!"

The first shot. A small gap in the smoke revealed Mika’s silhouette—Saori fired, piercing through.

"—Outer…!?"

But it had only struck a piece of clothing tied to a rock.

Two bullets left.

"Where…!!"

She scanned the battlefield and spoke into the comm.

"Misaki, where’s Mika!?"

"I don’t know… I couldn’t see her, so she must still be in the smoke."

"Ugh…!"

But she wasn’t there. Nowhere.

"Fine… I’ll have to disengage—!?"

"Got you."

Mika’s arm burst from the ground, clamping around Saori’s leg.

"Damn it!"

"Hah!!"

"—! Hah… gah…!"

Saori was flung into the air and struck mid-flight. With no chance to evade, she barely managed to brace herself, flooding her abdomen with mystic energy to absorb the impact.

She smashed into a wall and fell to the ground.

"…Hah…! Hah…!"

She gasped for air, struggling to refill her lungs after the punishing blows.

The bullets she had charged with mystic energy were nearing their limit—mystic power couldn’t last long in a single round.

"Saori, are you okay!?"

"Y-Yeah…! Somehow."

"Can you really say ‘okay’?"

Mika charged forward, relying solely on her physical strength. Saori couldn’t react in time.

"—!!"

"Hmph!!"

Saori fired her remaining bullets, the ones saturated with mystic power. One missed, the other struck Mika’s shoulder.

"Ugh…!!"

Mika grabbed her shoulder, then kicked off the ground to retreat.

"…Why?"

Those bullets should have inflicted undeniable damage—that much Saori was certain of.

And yet, after her fierce, almost feral display of combat, Mika was retreating?

"…"

Impossible. Normally, she would have taken advantage of the opening to press her attack.

Then why pull back now? It wasn’t just the pain—her movements had stiffened, forcing her to withdraw.

"…No way."

Saori came to a single realization.

"Ahaha…"

───Did she… notice?

Even as she laughed lightly, Misono Mika was panicking inside.

The damage from her battle with Kirihana Suou…

Those fists, explosions, and bullets were steadily eating away at her body.

And the attacks she’d enhanced too far with mystic energy—if she struck with full force, even her own body took damage.

Mystic energy amplified her power, but the strain on her muscles—shoulders, hips, legs, arms—was immense. Each blow pushed her body beyond its natural limits.

Even injured, she was still a monster. Defeating her without harm was impossible.

"Cough… well, I’ll manage somehow."

But the same truth applied to Misono Mika herself. She was one of the monsters recognized by the world, after all.

"…Haa…"

Wiping the blood from her mouth, Misono Mika thought.

It had been pure luck that she managed to take down Tsuchinaga Hiyori first. That alone made things considerably easier.

As for the Eighth Squad—also known as the Arius Squad—their coordination was notoriously difficult to break.
Had Shirasu Azusa been involved as well, Misono Mika would have been the one defeated.

Which meant her focus now had to be on Saori Joumae.
Hit her hard.
Incapacitate her quickly.

"Some damage from the fight with Suou still lingers…"

"—!!"

A brief hesitation. A single lapse in concentration.
Saori seized that opening, driving a hard kick into Misono Mika’s side.

"First…!"

"Now!!"

A storm of bullets poured down.
Misono Mika briefly considered the possibility that the Eighth Squad had stationed most of its members here—but dismissed it as inefficient.

"—!!"

Even the bullets fired by the less combat-proficient members were enough to pierce the wounds left by her battle with Suou.

And indeed, that assessment wasn’t wrong.

"But… that’s too soft!!"

She caught several of the bullets mid-flight, gauged their trajectories, and hurled them back with frightening precision.

"…Two down. Six more…!? Tear gas…!?"

Then—she was caught in a trap, set well in advance.

Her vision vanished in a white haze of tear gas.
She strained to read the battlefield through sound alone.

"This ends now!"

"—!?"

A voice came suddenly from behind.
Misono Mika braced for a barrage of bullets enhanced with mystic energy—and focused on defense.

"Wh—!!"

But the impact was different.
A palm strike—knockback.

She had stepped on a mine she’d sensed earlier, and her movement froze for an instant.

"Misaki!!"

Leaving those words over the comm, Saori immediately withdrew.

An unexpected move.
For a moment, Misono Mika’s mind went completely blank.

"—!! This is… bad…!!"

From above, countless explosives rained down—each one brimming with excessive mystic energy. They were unmistakably Misaki’s work.

Misono Mika grabbed nearby rocks, throwing them rapidly to intercept. She shot down about sixty percent of the barrage—but the rest slipped through.

"—!!"

Her vision was consumed by red flames.

Location shift — to where Kirihana Suou lies.

"Wh–while we still can…! Ugh, this is awful…!! Her left arm’s completely mangled! Will it even heal…!?"

"I don’t know…! Just stop the bleeding for now…!! And call it in!!"

"O–okay!! We’ve recovered the squad leader…!!"

"Copy that, good work. We can’t pull out yet, so move a bit away and treat her there."

"R–roger!"

By the time the members of the Eighth Squad arrived, Kirihana Suou’s condition was dire.

Her left arm—crushed by Mika’s surprise attack—had a gaping hole the size of a fist. The ribs along her left side were shattered, bone fragments piercing her lungs and other vital organs.

On top of that came severe bruises, cracked bones, fractures, and torn muscle fibers.

Her left arm, in particular—the one she had overused the most—was in a state too horrific to look at directly.

And yet, it was terrifying to realize that her body’s natural healing ability had already begun to mend it slightly.

"Ugh…!!"

"Stay with me! We’re the only ones who can save everyone now…!! If something like this can happen to the squad leader, we don’t even know if we can win…! We need to heal her and retreat, fast…!!"

"Y–yeah, but still…!!"

But could they really retreat?
Until now, they hadn’t even been able to approach the squad leader—let alone treat her—because of Misono Mika’s relentless interference.
The only reason they could recover Suou now was because Saori and the rest of the Eighth Squad were buying them time.

"Ugh…! No good…! We’re out of bandages, medicine, disinfectant—everything!!"

"W–what do we do…!! Squad leader!!"

Their supplies were far too limited. The equipment they carried was only meant for light field care—barely enough even for first aid.

They were at a total loss when—

"There’s… there’s so many members of the Justice Realization Committee…! D–do they think we’re the culprits!?"

"I don’t know, but we definitely look suspicious. More importantly, Asiri, cover her mouth—she’ll bite her tongue."

"Mmmph—mmnn!?"

That voice—she recognized it. Someone from the same Eighth Squad. A silhouette gradually came into view.

"Ow!!? I bit my tongue!! Even with my mouth shut I bit it!! It hurts, Azusa-chan!! Stop!!"

"Sorry, I can’t."

"Waaahhhh!!"

Their ally—Shirasu Azusa—was carrying a crying, blond-haired girl.

"Wait, someone’s over there!!"

"…Got it!"

They stopped in front of them and approached cautiously.

"…!? A–are you…!"

"A–are you okay!? You guys!!"

"…!!"

A brief hesitation—but the decision came quickly.

"Please, help us! We got caught up in the fighting…!! Do you have a medical kit!?"

"Y–yeah, I do!!"

Most people in Trinity knew nothing about Arius Branch School.
In that case, asking for help here shouldn’t be a problem.
It was risky to do so in front of Shirasu Azusa, but they had no intention of letting their guard down. Their uniforms weren’t from the Justice Realization Committee or the Sisterhood, so there was little chance of being exposed.

"Leave it to me, I know some medicine!"

That’s why seeking help from her—Amagawa Asiri—wasn’t such a bad choice.

"This is… really bad…!! She needs proper medical treatment right now, in a facility…!!"

Asiri was, in fact, remarkably proactive when it came to treatment.

"We have to get her there right away! What club are you girls from… wait…? I’ve seen those uniforms before… no, I have seen them…!!"

…If there was one unexpected flaw in their plan—

"You girls… you’re from Arius, aren’t you?"

"…!?"

—it was that their supposed helper had once been a student of Arius Branch School herself.

"Ugh… guh…"