Snow White
She had been having a nightmare. She was sure it was the sort of dream that would make her cry out in her sleep, but by the time she opened her eyes, she could no longer remember it.
Snow White immediately transformed. Her body responded faster than her mind did.
She looked around herself. She had been laid out over cold stone paving. Her limbs were bound. She tried straining, but she didn’t think she could break them or undo them. When she tilted her head to look at the cord that bound her feet, it was Classical Lillian’s yarn. That couldn’t be cut so easily.
The dark, stone-paved room felt colder than its actual temperature. It felt less that it was cold and more that it was frightening, so maybe that was what was causing that chill down her spine.
Snow White was not the only one in the room. That homunculus which looked like her was holding a weapon that looked just like the one she used, standing there without doing anything. Was it a sentry?
Beside it was the one in charge of the magical-girl class, the principal Halna Midi Meren. As usual, she couldn’t hear Halna’s thoughts, but looking at her, she was able to guess what she was thinking. She was scowling, arms folded behind her back, pacing back and forth.
Hers was the side being attacked. The defense was not going that well. So she was panicking. But nevertheless, if she was still safe, then she was managing to protect things. Were the classmates whose minds were being controlled all right? She could hear Mephis’s and Tetty’s thoughts from up the stairs. It seemed they were still being controlled, but they were still alive. Of the other voices, there was nothing. Even the voices of the Lightnings, which had been so loud, could not be heard.
Snow White felt shaking below the flagstones. Looking at Halna, she didn’t seem panicked. The flagstones were shaking enough to make rattling noises. There was no way Snow White was the only one to notice. Did that mean this shaking was occurring frequently enough that Halna wouldn’t react every time?
Snow White wondered just how long she had been unconscious. She only remembered up until the point where the black Snow White had attacked her. At that point, the Lightnings had managed to enter the courtyard. So was this the courtyard? The sense of voices of the heart being cut off outside of a fixed range was like the courtyard—but had there been a place like this there?
Following Halna’s gaze, she looked deeper into the room. A large door was open. It looked like there were stairs that went downward. Just looking at it made Snow White’s head hurt, and she averted her eyes.
Calming her breathing, she lifted her head. Her gaze met Halna’s when she happened to look down at her. Halna didn’t seem interested; she immediately looked in a different direction. She must not have thought of Snow White as much of a threat, even if she did regain consciousness and transform. Normally, you couldn’t let your guard down with a magical girl, even if she was tied up.
But…
Snow White looked up at the black version of her who stood at Halna’s side. This other Snow White appeared to be zoning out, but she must have been given orders. She must have at least been told to restrain Snow White if she tried to struggle.
Snow White couldn’t make any foolish moves. It would also be a bad idea to ask Halna any questions that would make her angry. She was rather pressed right now. Snow White would not agitate her; instead, she considered what to do next.
✦ ✦ ✦
Old Blue
This wasn’t good timing by any stretch of the imagination. Old Blue had spent all that time on the battle for the courtyard and lost forces; she didn’t know whether she had the Ace of Spades or not, Snow White had been kidnapped, and Halna had gotten away. She was lacking in every sort of preparation for striking back against the enemy.
But it was not all bad across the board. She had originally anticipated that if Frederica was going to show up, it would be at a time that was bad for them. And most of all, Pythie Frederica had come to her.
The odds had been high that Frederica would just send in her troops and not come herself. Frederica had so many reasons right now not to make the move personally. But seeing Frederica directly right now, Old Blue understood—Frederica had been forced to come here herself.
While her form was originally based on Frederica, her physical abilities had been so enhanced that it was fair to call her another person, and her magic was something else, too. Her resistance to magic was markedly higher even than that of the Ace of Hearts, the best of the Lightning unit. She was very close to an incarnation. Using casters purchased by the Caspar Faction, they had lavishly incorporated the newest technologies to design a base.
While racing through what had once been a hallway, Old Blue turned aside a fist, a kick, and an attack from Frederica’s skirt. The hem of the spinning skirt lopped off the wall at a diagonal. Frederica put her right hand into her sleeve and pulled it out. In between each of her fingers were little spheres. Without even a pause, she threw them. Old Blue understood her goal. Each one of the spheres emitted red, purple, blue, and yellow smoke with a tiny explosion. These were beacons. She was contacting her forces.
Old Blue gave instructions to the Lightnings with hand signs. Actually, hands signs were not all she had, and more three-dimensional movements were possible if she gave other multiple, more minute signs, but that would be difficult for even Frederica to see through at a glance. Old Blue fully understood the directions Frederica gave, while she hid her own directions, earning her a point or two in the information war.
Lightning, lightning, spear-hand, elbow, going way into the inside for a palm strike, slipping away and having her slip away—they attacked and defended again and again, feet never stopping. Frederica had noticed that Old Blue was deliberately drawing them away from the courtyard. But even so, she couldn’t turn her back to them and run off to the courtyard. Neither could Old Blue. Facing off against Frederica now was her big chance. She couldn’t let this go. She would end it here. That was precisely why she moved away from the courtyard.
Lightning bolt, feint, swapping places with a Lightning, leaping off the wall, she slid in to grab an ankle, but there wasn’t enough of an opening to clench her joint, and she swapped places with a Lightning yet again.
She once again scrutinized Frederica’s combat abilities. In terms of stats, she wasn’t as fast or strong as an incarnation. But she was far more powerful than an ordinary magical girl, or Old Blue. Depending on where she struck, just a skimmed attack from her could be fatal. Simply defending out of fear would only lead to death—so Old Blue had to keep attacking. Fortunately, she was used to a tightrope walk.
As she blocked attacks and turned them aside, she gave instructions to the Lightnings. Before running into Frederica, she had managed to see the courtyard and ruins, and even the relic. At this distance, nothing would get too badly damaged.