Magical Girls and Chtulutech Ch.8 (Patreon)

Chapter 8: The Gap to the Strongest

Iroha didn’t have the time to watch the white-garbed magical girl exterminate the fiery monsters, because some saw her, and they targeted what they saw as the weaker link.

The redhead clenched her fists.

The fire monsters were faster than the Dark Spawns.

She leaned away from a claw strike that she felt ruffle her hair, but a punch from a four-armed monster caught her in the ribs. She retaliated with a punch of her own in its face, breaking a tusk protruding from an ork-like face. The monster roared and kept swinging its arms at her.

They were stronger and tougher too.

Her War Song allowed her to keep up physically, but she couldn’t use her fire against flaming beasts. She needed to change tracks.

Iroha leapt away from a fire breath and landed on a wall. She then focused on her Force magic.

She bounced off the wall and right into the four-armed monster, this time unleashing her Force magic alongside her punch, the kinetic magic shaped like a piledriver. This time, the four-armed orc flew back from the impact.

A pick-up truck-sized fire wolf swept its paw Iroha and she was sent flying. She skidded and bounced on the ground before managing to regain control and get back on her feet.

She punched at the air, guiding Force projectiles that slammed into the wolf.

“Gurgh!” Iroha grunted in pain as a club made of magmatic rock slammed into her side. 

She got slammed into a wall and saw the culprit: a minotaur made of those same obsidian rocks, veins of lava coursing through its body, and wielding the club that had hit Iroha.

The bull-headed monster followed with a charge, horns first.

The redheaded magical girl jumped and vaulted above the charging bull. A platform of Force Magic formed beneath her feet and she used it as a foothold to reverse her momentum and axe-kick the minotaur as it stood up after its charge.

It brought the monster to a knee. The Luminary’s aura surged as she started hammering hooks and straight into the minotaur’s snout, feeling the rock-like face crumbling under her blows.

She grabbed it by the horn and judo-flipped it over her shoulder. Just in time to swing it into another monster that aimed at Iroha's back.

The wolf that she had kept away with her Force magic reappeared ina blazing streak and body-checked Iroha.

Before she could regain her footing, the wolf shot a fireball from its maw, catching Iroha mid-stumble.

While Iroha got back on her feet, a part of her was amazed at the fact that she was surviving those hits.

Physicality magic made her stronger and tougher than a Luminary of her level, and both her Implement and Ste’ve’s blessing allowed her to regain magic during a fight.

Matter of fact, between the blows she struck, and the ones the monsters had landed on her, she was back to full.

“Raaaaaaaah!” With a war cry, the darkly-garbed Luminary rejoined the fray.

The fiery wolf was her target. She zig-zagged around more fireballs and managed to land a Superman punch on its head.

This time, she dodged the retaliatory paw-swipe, and stepped under the beast to land an uppercut on its undercarriage.

Iroha hit it hard enough to lift the beast over her fist, and she was feeling her Implement’s effect heal the burns and scraps that she had suffered.

Only for the four-armed monster to make itself known again by landing a double punch on Iroha’s head and ribs.

Before she could be flung away, a third arm grabbed her leg and slammed her against the ground hard enough for it to crater.

“Gah!” She gasped, the air fleeing from her lungs.

Still, among the pain, she had the mind to kick the monster in the jaw before it could start hitting her prone form.

Iroha gasped and panted for air as she got back up. More monsters were surrounding her, some she could feel were stronger than the ones she was fighting and barely winning against.

It didn’t matter if she could heal and regenerate her magic if they overwhelmed her. Actually, it was the only reason she was still able to fight. Thanks to her magic draining strikes, she could put as much magic energy she needed without worrying about the upkeep.

But it wasn’t enough.

A big, blocky magma golem was nearing her, its sizzling fists the size of her whole body. Each step it took shook the earth.

Iroha squared up, ready to keep at it even if it killed her.

She had completely forgotten the third party in this mess.

A white heel descended from the heavens and parted the golem in two like it was smoke. Its owner landed on the ground, uncaring of the monsters around.

The angel-themed Luminary had finished with the majority of the horde, and had now come for the ones that were fighting Iroha.

She looked at Iroha for a moment. She lifted a hand. A barrier formed around Iroha.

“Hey, what are you doing?” The wine-haired Luminary was confused by the other magical girl’s action.

Her answer came in the form of a cascading rain of light that swallowed the remaining monsters. Beams bounced off the barrier surrounding Iroha while the white-gabred Luminary remained completely still.

“Oh.” Iroha blinked the spots off from her sight.

Just like that, every last surviving monster was gone. The barrier around Iroha and the bigger one that had sealed the entire cave faded away.

And then, the other Luminary was standing inches away from Iroha.

“C-can I help you?” Iroha stuttered, falling under the intense gaze of those orange eyes.

“No. What are you doing here?” The other girl answered and asked in the same breath.

“I fell. The floor caved in when I was fighting Dark Spawns above. Then I followed the tunnel until I arrived here in time for you to show up with those monsters.” Iroha answered honestly. There was no reason for her to lie here.

“...” The winged Luminary kept looking at Iroha for a moment. “From the amount of magic you have, you must be a new Luminary, yet you held your own against those Flame Remnants. When were you chosen?”

Iroha felt like those eyes were judging her.

“Earlier today. Things happened, I got the basics explained and then I fell upon Dark Spawns about to eat a guy, and another Luminary helped me find where they came from. I actually should get back up.” She quickly summarized.

Another moment of intense silence followed before the mace-wielding Luminary nodded.

“Good. Keep fighting and grow stronger for the Light.” She praised, expression not changing an inch. She then pointed her mace at one of the tunnels she had previously closed with her Sanctum barrier.

“This way will lead to the surface. Once you are rested, come find me. I am Apollyon and I will make you strong.”

Before Iroha could answer, The now named Apollyon flew away in a blur of white.

“This was weird. Epic and intense, but kind of weird. I also never told her my name.” Iroha said to herself.

Still, she decided to follow Apollyon’s advice and got in the tunnel she pointed out. After a while, she noticed the upward incline, making her more certain that it was the right way.

Iroha did grimace when she ended up in front of a wall, but there was light shining from the ceiling that was suddenly a lot higher.

It was like she had ended up at the bottom of a well. With an effort of will, her magic pushed her up and she started flying up.

It was supposed to be a basic skill for a Luminary, but not only had Iroha only started today, but she was more comfortable with moving her body and had started using Force platforms and explosions from her limbs to move around through sheer instinct.

Now that she was thinking about it, the basic flying instructions downloaded in her head were actually a very basic Force spell applied to the user’s body instead of to the outside world.

With that realization, Iroha switched to making a Force platform under her feet that swiftly rose upward.

Surfing on a shimmering plane of magical energy suited her tastes more. Though the purely vertical movement she was using it for at the moment made her think more of an elevator than a surfboard.

She finally arrived at the top of the well.

“There you are.”

And almost feel back in as she landed face to face with Frost Mirage.

“God damnit! You need to get a bell!” Iroha yelped, barely catching herself from falling backward.

“I’m happy to see you too.” The blue-haired Luminary snarked back. “Did you have an eventful trip?”

“Oh yeah, almost ended up on the menu for flaming monsters if not for another Luminary being down there.” Iroha answered.

Frost Mirage raised an eyebrow. Iroha had called her taciturn in her mind, but she was basically an open book compared to Apollyon’s poker face.

“Some girl called Apollyon. She was strong as hell. You know her?”

Frost Mirage’s eyes widened.

“Apollyon? All in white with wings sprouting from weird places? Giant mace?” Frost Mirage asked.

“Yup. Pretty much summarizes her.”

That…” frost Mirage licked her lips in thoughts. “The Luminous Knights like the thrill of a fight. The Pures, though, are more a bunch of zealous crusaders who would do anything for the Light to win.”

“Your point? She is from the Pures?” iroha guessed.

“She is the Pures. Every member of the Pures is a monster who has mastered her magic and survived for decades, but Apollyon is the strongest of them all by far.”

“Uh.” Iroha decided to keep Apollyon’s offer for herself, though now she was even more interested.

“Anyways, it was lucky that she was here to get rid of monsters at the same time as you. The Dark Spawns have been dealt with, and you are ok. We should leave.”

“Yeah, we should. Today has been a bit too much already.” Iroha agreed.

With the Dark Spawns dealt with, and Apollyon most likely scaring anything else back into their hole, it didn’t take long for the duo to get back to the surface.

“Hey thanks for the help.” Iroha said, turning around to thank Frost Mirage for accompanying her.

The blue archer wasn’t here any longer, having left without a sound or a trace of magical power.

Iroha was too tired to get angry at the Batman disappearance act. She just untransformed once she made sure no one could see her, and went back home.

She was asleep the moment  her head touched her pillow.