The Tale of a Hero-sama Rescuing the Captive Demon King

"… Thanks, 'All-A.' You saved me."

The industrial district on the eastern edge of the royal capital's outskirts. As Raul peered up at the tall wall before them and let the words fall easily, Airi, still pushing her bikuru (two-wheeled cycle), raised her voice in a fluster.

"Wai— you're planning to go inside?! That's, like, the textbook definition of trespassing!"

"But Fino might be caught in there."

"But… I mean, how are you even going to…"

'Raul, busted the rear door's lock! The wall on the side where the moon's up… that route, no sign of guards right now.'

From the magic transceiver (magic intercom) tucked into Raul's ear came, unexpectedly, the voice of the very girl who was supposed to be the one caught inside… Looked like it had gone well.

Exhaling a small breath, Raul brushed the intercom's mic switch and answered with a long press the message from Fino, who'd used her natural physical ability to vault the wall and slip in ahead of him.

He confirmed the moon hanging in the sky, then pushed against the door in front of him. It opened without resistance, and beside him, Airi's mouth fell open.

"How did you…"

"Your company's pretty careless for a big chain, don't you think?"

Bluffing offhandedly, Raul moved to step through the doorway. And Airi grabbed his arm.

"… What is it, 'All-A'?"

He glanced back over his shoulder without thinking. When Raul asked, Airi bit her lip and stared him straight in the eye.

"… I'm coming too."

"Wha…"

For a moment he was speechless, and then, after a beat, Raul's voice cracked.

"O-oi, Ai… 'All-A'! Like you just said, from here on it's trespassing! Come on, just go home quietly!"

"After dragging me along this far, what are you saying now?!"

A T-shirt and a thin jacket over the same denim hot pants she'd been wearing in her apartment, an entirely ordinary outfit. Still holding the handlebars of the bikuru they'd ridden out on together, Airi shot back in a forceful tone.

"… And besides, I have a duty to keep an eye on a rival company's employee so he doesn't pull anything weird…!"

"… Tch."

Crap. Raul clicked his tongue. If Airi tagged along, his options got drastically cut down. He wanted to send her home, peacefully if at all possible, but… yeah, no way this one was going to be talked out of it.

'Raul, found a window open up high! I'll try going in through there!'

Fino's voice came in over the intercom just as Raul let out a sigh. Turning his back on Airi, he leaned in close to the little mic and whispered his instructions.

'… OK, be careful. And once you're inside, look for somewhere we can get in.'

'Roge… wait, 'we'?'

'Yeah. Long story, A…'

"… What are you muttering about over there, Raul Chaser?"

"Eh, ah, n-no, it's nothing!!!"

Dodging Airi's suspicious glance, Raul let go of the intercom mic and laughed it off.

Footsteps of a guard echoed down the dim corridor. Pressed into a shadow, Raul desperately stifled his breath.

The armor he'd glimpsed on the guard was, beyond any doubt, an anti-demonkin "Magic Mail." Seeing that exaggerated outfit, Raul was sure of it. There had to be demonkin somewhere in this factory.

The footsteps passed right by Raul, and as he listened to the sound gradually fading into the distance, he let out an involuntary sigh of relief.

"… If we got caught somewhere like this, I'd be fired on the spot."

"… You'd be lucky if it stopped at being fired."

Wedged into the narrow gap between the wall and a piece of machinery, the two of them were pressed up against each other. Even as he traded grumbles with the muttering girl, Raul was definitely not in any state to focus on the conversation.

Ever since they'd crammed in here, the ineffable scent of shampoo wafting from Airi's hair had been steadily attacking his nostrils. Her slender, defenseless neck was so close his breath could have brushed it. Now that he thought about it, hadn't she said earlier she'd just gotten out of the bath…

"… J-just how long are you going to keep clinging to me?!"

Snapping back to herself, Airi shoved Raul away and protested in an unsteady voice.

"Y-you, you were just thinking something weird, weren't you, Raul Chaser?!"

"I-I-I-I-I-I was not thinking anything like that!!!"

"B-but, your face is red!!!"

Airi's own face was so flushed it looked ready to burst into flame. But the moment she tried to keep pressing the point, Raul suddenly stretched out his arm.

Wrapped around her, her shoulders felt surprisingly delicate. Through the thin shirt he could feel Airi's slim but soft body. The unfair mixture of shampoo and soap going straight to his head made him dizzy.

Pulling the girl in close on reflex, hiding again in the gap as the approaching guard's footsteps passed once more… his whole body felt like it had turned into one giant heart. The hammering pulse he could feel was so wild Raul couldn't tell anymore whether it was his own or hers.

This time, the footsteps faded out completely.

When Raul finally relaxed his arm, Airi slipped free of his grip. She didn't snap back with any sharp remark this time, just stayed silent, still flushed. The air was awkward, and Raul couldn't find any words either.

And at that exquisitely terrible moment, Raul's intercom earphone made a sound.

'… Raul, I found it! There's a demonkin presence on the other side of this door!'

'Got it, where are you?'

'Raul, you're still in the west corridor, right? Then the door right after you turn right at the end of the hall… Raul, get over here as fast as you can!'

Fino spoke in a tone that was somehow urgent.

'This door's locked and won't open. But it looks like regular iron, so… your magic can cut through this, right?'

'Huh…'

At those words, Raul's eyes went round.

By instantaneously assembling multiple "Magic Circuits" and switching their outputs in rapid succession to produce a hyper-vibration effect, Raul's "Complex Circuit" could cut through even steel. But…

'How do you know about that…'

'… Ah!'

But cutting off Raul's question, there came a short shriek… then a rattling crash, and Fino's intercom cut out with a sharp pop. Wha?!

'Fino…?'

A frozen silence on the other side of the earphone. A chill ran down Raul's spine, and forgetting even Airi right beside him, he grabbed the mic at his collar and shouted with everything he had.

'Fino?! Fino?! Oi, Fino?! What happened?!'

"Eh, wha, what is it?! What's wrong, Raul Chaser?!"

'Fino?! Oi, answer me! … Damn it!!!'

Clicking his tongue, Raul suddenly broke into a run. Airi scrambled after him, her face all confusion.

"H-hey, are you out of your mind?! We're going to get caught!"

"We've already been caught!!!!!"

Shouting his answer as he tore down the corridor, Raul reached for the sword at his hip. Right after turning right means… if it's this wall, then about 5,000, maybe…?

"'Boot'! …'Output Raise'! 5,000 ampyle!"

A "Magic Circuit" surfaced and made Raul's sword blaze. With Airi staring wide-eyed, Raul came to a halt and pointed the tip of his blade at the wall beside them.

A large triangle traced across the surface of the thick rebar-and-concrete wall. The moment he confirmed the path his blade had cut, Raul slammed his foot through the center with everything he had.

With a dull crash, the concrete wall toppled away from them, shattering as it hit the floor. Muttering "'End'," Raul clicked his tongue in chagrin.

"Damn, what a waste… at this hardness, I could've gone lower output."

"H-how does a 5,000-ampyle output cut through something like that?!"

"Company secret!!!"

Bluffing as he leapt through the hole in the wall, Airi scrambled to follow after him.

"What… is this…"

Ducking past the melted steel beams, Airi muttered in a dazed tone as she lifted her head.

It was a chamber large enough to be called a hall.

In the center of the cavernous space, set among log-thick pipes and cables, was an enormous gray machine. Lining its perimeter stood countless cylindrical capsules tall as a person, each containing a floating jet-black "Magic Orb"…

"Tch…"

The moment his gaze shifted slightly, the grisly sight that filled his vision was such that even Raul, who'd come braced for a certain amount of horror, nearly had to cover his eyes.

Beyond the outer ring of capsules, pinned to metal panels as if crucified, more than a dozen demonkin had been bound. Their hands and feet were locked in metal restraints, their pale skin punctured by countless cables, the thickest of them as wide as a grown man's thigh. Cables had even been driven into their mouths, leaving them unable to even groan. Tears of agony welled in their crimson eyes.

Raul, still clutching his sword, stood speechless for a long moment before reaching inside his coat as if remembering something. Beside the boy, the rooted-in-place Airi whispered in a trembling voice.

"… What… is this…?"

"We are extracting magic power from demonkin and using it to charge the 'Magic Orbs.'"

A calm voice he'd heard somewhere before.

When Raul jerked his head up, there stood a man flanked by guards clad in "Magic Mail."

Long black hair, eyes thin as threads, a striking tall frame… I knew it, Raul thought, clicking his tongue. I knew it. This guy is—!

"Oh?"

The moment the man caught sight of Airi turning around, he murmured with a deeply surprised expression.

"And here I thought you were just a spy… Airi-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Manager?!"

That man—the manager of Amada Magic's Royal Capital Store. Airi caught her breath in shock at the sight of him, and in that instant, a flash of light blazed across the room, narrowing Amada's manager's already-thin eyes further. In front of him,

"… Finally, I've got you bastards dead to rights!"

Raul, brandishing a discontinued-model magic camera, smirked.

"… … … …"

Glaring back at the Amada manager who was staring at him in silence. Showing off the magic camera now loaded with photos of the demonkin, Raul raised his voice.

"For today, I was just gonna grab evidence and call it a win, but if the person in charge is right here, this makes it easy. Release the demonkin you're holding right now, kidnapper! Otherwise, I'll go public with everything you bastards are doing in the shadows!!!"

His opponent was an absurdly huge corporation, and he'd never thought from the start that he and Fino alone could really handle this. But even so, they had their own way of fighting!

Forcing down the tremor in his voice, putting up the strongest front he could manage, Raul kept going.

"What a big chain like you is most afraid of is a scandal damaging your image, right? If you don't want every detail of your sleazy criminal activity dumped on the police, then quietly…"

"… What are you talking about?"

But.

At Raul's words, Amada's manager shrugged as if to say good grief, and slowly opened his mouth.

"Please, that's quite enough baseless accusation. The one being arrested is you, isn't it? Trespassing on the property of an extremely upstanding, clean company. Property damage… and if you refuse to sheathe that sword, we may even add threats and assault to the charges."

"How are you 'upstanding' or 'clean' when you're doing something this horrible?!"

"Whatever we do with demonkin doesn't constitute any crime at all."

He said it as if stating something obvious.

In that moment, before Raul's wide eyes, Amada's manager smiled serenely.

"We have done nothing — nothing at all — that runs afoul of the law… No, on the contrary, it wouldn't be strange if we were commended for it. After all, we're putting demonkin — savage, violent, brutal, irredeemable creatures — to effective use for the benefit of humanity."

"You bastard…"

"… By the way, Airi-san."

His gaze shifted suddenly. Amada's manager slowly addressed Airi, who stood beside the rage-speechless Raul.

"Why are you over there?"

"Eh…"

In that instant, Airi's expression stiffened… and the manager smiled as if satisfied by her reaction.

"I'm aware of your background. You hate demonkin, don't you? We had to assign you to a store due to the new branch opening, but as a hero-prep academy graduate, our original intent in hiring you as a full employee was to place you in our demonkin-hunting division."

"Demonkin-hunting… division…?"

"Yes."

To the words slipping from Airi's lips, the manager smiled brightly.

"Work that saves humanity by capturing the savage, violent, brutal demonkin. Airi-kun, that's the work you were hoping for, the work you truly wanted to do, isn't it?"

"'All-A'!!!"

Despite Raul's involuntary shout, Airi didn't answer. Standing rooted to the spot in silence, Airi's eyes held a complicated color.

"Airi-kun. You attract a lot of complaints, and you don't seem suited to store work. If you'd like, I can have you transferred over right away."

"… I-I…"

"… Now, you understand what you should do, don't you, Airi-kun?"

Smiling gently, Amada's manager glanced briefly at Raul.

"This trespasser, this spy, needs to be subdued and turned over to the police."

"… … … …"

In that moment.

With trembling hand, Airi drew the sword at her waist and leveled its point at Raul.

Airi's blade grazed his cheek and Raul gritted his teeth.

"'All-A'! You're seriously…"

Airi thrust the point at him in silence, and Raul leapt back on reflex as she aimed for his hand.

"You! Looking at how these guys are suffering, you really feel nothing?!"

He knocked away Airi's diagonal slash. As Raul shouted, gesturing at the captive demonkin, Airi shook her head violently.

"Demonkin deserve to suffer!!!"

The deflected blade flowed into a thrust, and Airi came at Raul. The girl's long hair whipped through the air, the sharp blade-tip slicing the space between them.

"Tch…"

Raul thrust back at the same moment, and their points clashed head-on and slid off each other. Airi bit her lip. She drew her sword back to her chest, reset her stance, dropped low and lunged straight into Raul's range.

"'All-A,' demonkin aren't absolute evil! They have hearts just like humans, and there are good ones too!!!"

"… Where's your proof?!"

In response, Airi swung her sword with frustration in her voice.

"If you say there's a good demonkin, then show me the proof!!!"

"That's…"

In that instant, what came to mind was, of course, the innocent smile of a girl with silver hair and sparkling blue eyes. But there was no way he could tell Airi, who didn't know Fino's true identity, anything like that.

"… See?"

As Raul stammered, Airi lifted the corner of her mouth and declared triumphantly,

"The only good demonkin is a dead demonkin!!!!!"

In the moment Raul's attention faltered just a touch, the girl unleashed a cross-slash, and Raul's reaction was just barely too slow.

"Gh…!"

With a dry sound, his sword fell to the concrete floor. He reached on reflex to grab it, but Airi immediately leveled her blade at his throat, blocking him.

"… Airi-kun, well done."

The moment Amada's manager called out as if in thanks, the guards standing behind him moved.

"Tch, damn it, let go!!!"

"Quit struggling, hold still!"

"M-manager! No rough stuff—!"

"Don't worry."

Roughly pinned by the guards in "Magic Mail," Raul was helplessly pressed to the floor. To the involuntary cry from Airi, Amada's manager smiled gently.

"I told you, didn't I? Our company has nothing to do with anything criminal. After all, raising a hand against a human would actually be a problem, unlike with demonkin. We'll have him atone for the crimes he's committed. Through legitimate means, based on this country's judicial system."

Receiving the manager's words, Airi let out a small sigh and quietly sheathed her sword. After glancing once at Raul at her feet, she turned on her heel.

"'All-A,' don't go!!!"

Airi's retreating back. Held down by the guards with his head pressed to the floor, both arms wrenched up behind him. Even so, Raul desperately struggled to lift his face.

"Stop, 'All-A'!!! No, this isn't right! Hurting demonkin and making them suffer not to protect people but for profit… that's…!"

A churning sensation deep in his gut. Drawing on every ounce of strength in his body, Raul shouted.

"That isn't the kind of hero we were aiming for, Airi!!!!!"

"Ugh…"

The instant Raul called her by name, Airi's steps froze. But.

Tossing her golden hair, Airi shook her head and began walking again toward Amada's manager. Raul bit down hard on his back teeth.

Damn it!!! Why can't I reach her?!

He'd thought he didn't care about any demonkin besides Fino. But the moment he saw them chained to cables, writhing in agony, he'd thought this is wrong. Demonkin or not, this couldn't be allowed. So Airi… someone so much more earnest, more serious, more straightforward than he was. He didn't want her to fall in with those bastards. He didn't want her doing something so wrong!

"Ai——"

"——Raul!!!!!!!"

Just as Raul was about to shout again, that voice reaching his ears as he was pinned down was unmistakably—

"Tch…?!"

"Fino!!!!!?"

At the sight of the girl who came rushing into the chamber, Airi caught her breath and her steps faltered. Glancing reflexively at Raul, the girl whose name had been called grinned as if teasing him.

"Raul!!! … What the hell, you got caught again?!"

"Sh-shut up, I had my guard down! … You're okay, then?!"

"Yeah! Got spotted by a guard, dropped my intercom and broke it, ran around forever, then I found the hole in the wall and finally…!?"

But the girl's voice cut off suddenly.

At the sight of the massive machine set in the center of the hall, of the demonkin with cables stuck into their bodies like needles, Fino's blue eyes trembled, and then.

Biting her lip hard, Fino looked slowly around her. After spotting Amada's manager standing serenely with arms crossed in front of the great machine, she lifted her face.

"You. Are you the leader here…?"

She looked straight up at the tall man staring down at her in silence, with a hard gaze, and throwing both arms wide to indicate the captured demonkin, Fino shouted.

"… Release them! I… I'll take their place!!!"

"Wha…"

In that moment, Raul froze in stunned disbelief. In front of him, Amada's manager shook with laughter.

"… Young lady. I can't quite figure out who you are or what you're thinking, but how on earth do you expect a tiny thing like you, all alone, to substitute for the magic of more than a dozen demonkin…"

His words were cut off in the next instant by a sharp crack that rang out across the room.

"I am the daughter of the previous [Demon King]."

In a hushed, quiet tone. The thing fuming white smoke in Fino's hand was the wreckage of the intercom she'd just blown apart in a violent shower of sparks. The instant Amada's manager saw it, his expression changed.

"Measure it if you can. That demonkin radar from before… if it weren't broken, my magic should be bigger than your, what, 'gigavile' or whatever, right?"

The device, already broken to start with, had been completely fried by Fino's off-spec magic. She tossed the resulting hunk of junk aside carelessly and looked up at Amada's manager again.

"On my own, I've got enough to cover all their magic combined and then some."

"… … … …"

Looking down at Fino, Amada's manager slowly lifted the corner of his mouth and was about to speak, when—

"What does that mean?!"

Suddenly.

Right between Amada's manager standing in front of the machine and Raul still pinned to the floor. Airi, who'd been standing dazed up until this moment, raised her voice as if snapping back to herself.

"Fino-san is the [Demon King]'s daughter? But… but, what about the 'Magic-Woven Fabric,' and…"

"Tch…"

At Airi's frantic outburst, Fino's face stiffened, and then.

"… Sorry, Airi."

With a deeply uncomfortable expression, she gently lowered her eyes.

"We've done all kinds of terrible things to you humans for a long time… and I've been thinking the whole time, how could demonkin atone for what we've done to humans, but I couldn't come up with anything… but…"

She broke off mid-sentence.

Fino looked up at the massive machine looming behind Amada's manager with a face that was somehow dazzled, and quietly opened her mouth.

"But now I finally get it."

'If there's a way I can atone, then I… I'd do anything…'

Fino's words from before suddenly came back to Raul, and his breath caught. Don't tell me, this idiot…

"Fino! Oi!!!"

"… Raul."

As if she'd finally found the one answer to a long search. With a deeply peaceful expression, Fino slowly spoke.

"Warming up milk, frying eggs… magic items are so useful, and they're a help to you guys… so if the magic the rest of us have can be used for things like that, that's… that's the only atonement demonkin can make to humans, I think."

As she spoke, the girl shifted her gaze. Looking at the demonkin tied to the cables, she narrowed her blue eyes.

"… … … … But I don't want to see other demonkin suffer."

As if she shared their pain. Clenching her fists tight, the girl murmured "So," and went on.

"So, if you'll allow it, I'll take on every demonkin's sins, all of them. In place of these guys, I'll give you all of my magic, every last drop!"

"You… id…"

His throat caught. As if forcing out the burning lump rising in his chest, Raul shouted with all his might.

"Don't say something so stupid!!!!!!!"

Pressed to the concrete floor, Raul roared at the top of his lungs.

"Fino! Weren't you gonna become Manager?! Weren't you running your mouth about making me your assistant manager?! And now what are you saying?!"

An uncontrollable emotion ran through every part of his body. Raul recognized clearly what it was. Anger. A blinding, eye-opening anger at Fino.

"Why are you trying to do this?! Why are you trying to carry all of it?! Why…"

This idiot is such a good person. This idiot hasn't done anything wrong. So this has to be wrong, so why is this idiot trying to do something wrong?! Why… why does this idiot have to be like this?!

He couldn't stand how Fino's resolve to throw herself away made him so furious that his body felt ready to explode. The unfairness of it made his chest ache like it would tear in two. And yet.

As if completely indifferent to Raul's feelings, with a small smile, Fino slowly shrugged.

"Raul… sorry for breaking my promise."

"～～～!!!!!!!"

Wringing his whole body, Raul let out a wordless scream.

Paying him no mind, Amada's manager wore a peaceful smile.

"… … … … Very well."

Lifting one cable, thicker than her arm, from the side of the machine behind him, Amada's manager walked over slowly and, with a smile, extended it toward Fino.

"You may insert it anywhere you like. The 'Magicondria' that produce magic are distributed evenly through every cell of the body, after all."

The cable's tip was a horror of mismatched needles glinting at its cross-section.

The small silver-haired girl received it with a solemn expression, then looked at Raul one more time.

"Raul…"

Fino's lips, as she called his name, eased just slightly into a smile.

"… I'm really glad I got to work with you."

Her wide blue eyes, fixed on Raul, narrowed.

Fino aimed the cable's tip at her own body.

"Fino—!!!!!!!"

The instant Raul shrieked, across the boy's vision, a brilliant golden flash leapt through the air with breath-stealing speed.

With a dull sound, the cable was struck to the concrete floor, bouncing slightly.

The silver-haired girl, the thing she'd been gripping until a moment ago knocked from her hand, blinked her blue eyes in confusion, and stared, dumbfounded, at the beautiful face of the girl now standing before her, a girl taller than herself.

"I-Airi…?"

"… You! Just… what the hell are you?!"

In a tone of intense irritation. Grabbing Fino's shoulders, Airi shook her small body roughly.

"You really are an idiot! An idiot, reckless, hot-headed, thoughtless… yes, of course, naturally, because you're a demonkin! Honestly, this is why demonkin are such a pain! Why… why do you have to be a demonkin?!"

"Airi…"

"… Why does it have to be like this? Why, when you're a demonkin, are you doing something like this?! Why, when you're a demonkin… won't you let me hate you?!"

Hurling out the emotions overflowing from her. Saying everything she wanted to say, then shoving Fino away as she released her, Airi whirled around.

"Manager…"

At the same moment she turned, she drew the sword at her waist, and as Airi leveled it at him, Amada's manager opened his mouth calmly.

"… Airi-kun. Do you understand what you're doing?"

"Yes, manager, I understand. And… probably, what the real purpose of the 'Magic Orb' development is, too."

In that instant, Amada's manager, who had maintained his composure all this time, let out a low chuckle, and then, with apparent delight, broke into laughter.

"Hey, oi, 'All-A,' what does that mean?!"

"Honestly, can't you imagine even that?!"

In front of the manager dissolving into laughter, Airi shot back bitterly at Raul, his face still uncomprehending.

"It's obvious! Our company's main investor is a weapons manufacturer! Once 'Magic Orbs' let them use demonkin magic freely, they can build any terrifying weapon they like!!!"

"Eh…"

"That's why I keep calling you an idiot! Fino-san, the magic you were about to sacrifice yourself to hand over isn't for the sake of humans! It might be used to kill people!!!"

The moment she heard the words, Fino's face froze. Turning to face Amada's manager once more, Airi spoke quietly.

"… Manager. I do hate demonkin, and I aimed to become a hero out of revenge. But… heroes are those who defeat demonkin. That doesn't mean every defeater of demonkin is a hero."

As if finally freed from the inner conflict that had held her captive for so long. Confronting the manager, Airi's tone held not a trace of hesitation.

"A hero exists for people. And above all, a hero is meant to be fair, to be right. I'm going to walk the path I think is right. Manager, if you're a former [Hero] too, you must understand?"

A former [Hero]?

In front of Raul, whose eyes went round at Airi's words, Amada's manager smiled wryly.

"… I am someone Amada took in."

The moment he muttered "'Boot'" in a soft voice, the single cable Amada's manager had been stepping on suddenly glowed pale blue, and the "Magic Circuit" laced through it animated the cable, lifting it whip-like into the air—

"Wha?!!!"

Without time to dodge, without time to stop it.

The needle-encrusted tip of the cable drove straight into Fino's chest.

The instant the cable pierced her, Fino's blue eyes flew wide open, and then, weakly, slipped shut.

"Fino!!!!!!!"

"Fino-san!!!!!!!"

The shouts of Raul and Airi rang out around them. As if in answer, a sharp pop went off somewhere.

One spot, two spots… the bursting sounds didn't stop. If anything, they multiplied.

"So this is…"

Amada's manager folded his arms easily and murmured in apparent admiration.

"So this is the magic of a [Demon King], surpassing even a gigavile—"

Tripping its alarms at the off-spec magic flooding through it, the machine's lights flashed wildly. Overloaded with surplus magic, the "Magic Orbs" in the capsules burst one after another. Fino's vast magic flowed in reverse through every last inch of the countless cables sprouting from the main machine, and the cables driven into the demonkin's bodies popped loose like they'd been blown free.

"At its current build, it won't hold. The design will have to be changed…"

In front of the machine starting to run wild, Amada's manager lifted one hand, and at that, the men who'd been holding Raul down until just now released their grip.

Suddenly freed. But faster than Raul could rise, Amada's manager swept his subordinates around and turned to leave.

"Tch, oi, you bastards!! … Damn it!"

Raul shot a bitter glare at the men's retreating backs as they cleanly escaped, but immediately turned back toward the runaway machine. Chasing them came second to saving Fino.

Whipping around the room under Fino's magic, the cables lashed about like enraged beasts. Surging with the magic poured into them, the thinner ones flung everything around like a wild-beast tamer's whip, while the thicker ones tore through even concrete walls like the tails of furious dragons.

Beyond those cables, Raul could see Fino, pinned high against the machine with her chest pierced through, long lashes lowered as she hung there with her eyes closed. The moment he saw her blood-soaked blouse, Raul felt his own body temperature drop.

He grabbed his sword from where it had rolled nearby and broke into a sprint. A cable thicker than his own arm shot toward the boy.

"Tch…!"

An unexpected attack. Raul instinctively raised his sword, but with the cable carrying enough force and speed to crack concrete, he couldn't see how a sword without magic could parry it… seriously, did her recklessness rub off on me? Raul cursed himself inwardly. Why did I throw myself out here without even casting magic?!

As Raul squeezed his eyes shut, the wind from the whipping cable grazed his skin—

"Hey, even Raul Chaser fumbles sometimes!"

At that familiar voice in the next instant, Raul snapped his eyes open and looked up.

"Airi…?!"

"Over here!"

Brilliant golden hair, and the well-shaped legs peeking from her denim hot pants. Slicing off the cable with a thin sword glowing pale blue, Airi yanked roughly at Raul's body.

"… What the hell?! This isn't fair at all!!!"

Airi hauled Raul by the arm to a safe spot, then turned back and glared at the lashing cables with irritation in her voice.

"This thing's running on Fino-san's magic, right? Honestly, what is that girl?!"

"She's…"

To Airi's exasperated words, Raul opened his mouth.

"She's… an amazing kid."

A "Complex Circuit" unfurled across Raul's sword with the word "'Boot'." The moment she saw it, Airi spoke up in a fluster.

"Wait, you're not seriously going in, are you, Raul Chaser?! The cables around the main body are packed too densely to get close! Even the thinnest one, one hit and you're done!"

"But I have to save her…"

"Calm down!!!"

Airi stepped in front of him with both arms outstretched.

"This machine is using up Fino-san's magic like crazy to run wild like this! It's basically a tank with the faucet wide open! It can't keep this up for long! The smart move is to wait for her magic to run low so the machine settles down!"

"Like hell I can wait!!!"

But. Pushing Airi aside, Raul stared straight at Fino past the cables and muttered.

"… Because, with something like that stuck in her, it has to hurt, right?"

At max output (5,000 ampyle), I've got about one minute. As he watched the raging cables, Raul did the calculation in his head. Is that enough? No… I have to make it work!

Just as Raul, blade ready, was about to dart out at the right moment—

"Raul Chaser!"

He was called by name without warning. As he turned, a black mass was thrown into his hand. He caught it reflexively, and his eyes went round.

"Hey, this is…"

"I picked it up after it got knocked out of the capsules."

To Raul's words, Airi shrugged.

"It was the only one that didn't shatter when it took her magic. I have no idea how much 'Magic Capacity' is left in it, but better than nothing, right?"

"… Thanks, 'All-A'!!"

As he spoke, he flipped on the switch of the "Magic Orb" Airi had handed him, and the moment he felt the magic flowing in, a smile crept to the corners of Raul's mouth.

"I see…"

A warm, beloved sensation that only Raul knew. No doubt about it: this was Fino's magic.

"'Output Raise'!!!"

Kicking off the concrete floor hard. Gripping his dazzlingly bright sword, Raul flung himself into the storm of lashing cables.

He slipped past a cable coming straight at him, then in an instant cut down a thick one extending from his upper right. The magic-laden cable sparked the moment it touched Raul's blade, and it caught a little, but he managed to cleave through cleanly.

Glancing at the cross-section of the cable rolling at his feet, Raul nodded. With this, even the thickest cable looked manageable.

Sidestepping a thick cable that came at him from the flank, then rolling under finer cables that crossed in from left and right, Raul rose and brought his sword down in a flash at the cable racing straight at him.

From behind the cable he'd just sliced, a slightly thinner cable leapt out. Raul's reaction was a hair's breadth too slow against the blind-side attack, and the cable stretched out as if to sweep his neck.

In that moment, the cable, struck by 'something' flying in from behind, burst in a flash, and Raul shouted.

"'Byle Shot'?!"

"Don't get cocky, Raul Chaser!!"

The girl's scolding voice, and the metal fragment lodged deep in the cable at his feet. Raul couldn't help but sigh. As expected of 'All-A'!

When he looked up, the main machine was right in front of him. Just above Raul's head, Fino's lifeless face hung, crucified by cables.

"'Output Lower'…"

He slid his now-dimmed blade onto a cable coming at his belly, used it as a pivot, and kicked off the floor.

"…'Output Raise'!"

Springing off the cable as a foothold, Raul brought his sword down with everything he had on the cable piercing the girl's chest.

For an instant, the immense magic that clashed there sent out a light that seemed to scorch the world.

Their supply of magic severed, the cables crashed to the floor.