The angels launched themselves into the air and bombarded Mina with wind magic—Air Cutters. She dodged and weaved as best she could, but the blades of wind whizzed past just behind her. Trees and branches were sheared apart in her wake.

  “Apparently a few nicks are acceptable! Fire at will!”

  Mina’s face went white at those words. But her earth magic couldn’t reach them in the sky. She was desperate.

  “Damn it—if it’s come to this, there’s only one option!”

  That option was, of course, lightning magic. Devastating power, zero accuracy. But it was the only ranged attack she had.

  “Just you watch! I’ll show you my secret weapon!”

  The angels in the sky burst out laughing.

  “Ha ha ha! Secret weapon? What’s that?”

  “What amazing beginner spell is she going to show us?”

  “Try not to kill us, little lady!”

  Mina swore she would shut their mouths.

  “Grrr! You’ll be crying before this is over!”

  She ran with tears stinging her eyes.

  But even after deciding to use lightning magic, the question remained: how was she supposed to hit them? She racked her brain while dodging, but nothing came to her.

  Since Mina did nothing but flee without fighting back, Rakiel grew bored. He let out a dismissive snort.

  “Hey—let’s wrap this up. We were told to bring her back to Lord Seraphim alive, remember?”

  Griel glanced back.

  “Sure, but how do we catch her? Our magic is so powerful we might kill her even if we hold back.”

  Rakiel pondered this.

  “What if we throw her into the air with a tornado and knock her out?”

  Griel nodded enthusiastically.

  “Now that’s an idea.”

  Fezael looked down at Mina and laughed.

  “Lucky you—you get to keep all your limbs instead of becoming ground pork.”

  Griel and Rakiel laughed along. Mina’s blood boiled.

  “Who are you calling ground pork…”

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  She glared up at the three angels. Fezael noticed and called back.

  “Hey—the little brat is actually glaring at us.”

  Griel pursed his lips, clearly unamused.

  “Rakiel… Lord Canconel is waiting. Let’s just do this.”

  Rakiel raised his right hand while fixing Mina with a cold stare.

  “Right. Time to give her a real taste.”

  The other two raised their arms in unison. Mina panicked.

  “Oh no, oh no, oh no—what do I do?!”

  If she didn’t act, they’d blast her into the sky and knock her unconscious. Mina shaped her fingers into a pistol and aimed straight at the angels. Rakiel laughed through his nose.

  “What—a Stone Bullet? That won’t stop our tornado!”

  “Don’t underestimate me! I’ve got ridiculous amounts of raw magical power!”

  At that moment, Rakiel signaled to the other two.

  “Here we go! Magic Tornado!”

  At his command, a violent, pitch-dark vortex of wind erupted from the three angels.

  But at the very same instant, a bolt of lightning fired from Mina’s fingertip.

  The all-consuming tornado and the blue-white flash of lightning collided head-on.

  And here, fortune smiled on Mina.

  Under normal circumstances, her lightning would have veered off in some random direction. But the oncoming tornado acted as a conductor, carrying the electrical charge straight back to its source. Their own attack delivered Mina’s lightning right to them.

  “GYAAAGH!!”

  The angels took the full, uncontrolled force of Mina’s lightning magic across their entire bodies. In a flash, they were charred to a crisp and plummeted to the ground like burnt skewers. Naturally, with their casters incapacitated, the wind magic dissipated into nothing.

  “Wait—it actually hit?!”

  Mina couldn’t believe it. The lightning that had never once found its mark had actually connected. But she had no time to stand around marveling. There might be more of them.

  “I need to get out of here while I can!”

  She spun around to flee—and froze.

  Hovering in the air roughly ten meters away was a lone angel. His pale blue hair swayed in the wind. But his face was burning red with fury.

  It was Canconel.

  Mina remembered the wind magic she’d seen him use at the ruins. Those demons had been sliced to ribbons.

  “Um—I’m sorry!”

  “Sorry for what? You just charbroiled my precious subordinates!”

  Mina waved her hands frantically.

  “I-I-I never thought it would actually hit!”

  “I didn’t expect you to have a trick like that up your sleeve. I’ll admit I underestimated you.”

  “Eeeek! That’s really not the case!”

  Canconel glared at Mina, cracking his knuckles one by one.

  “I was planning to deliver you in one piece, but I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll take an arm.”

  “No! Anything but that!”

  Mina clasped her hands together in silent prayer.

  ◆

  Meanwhile, Arc was casting healing magic on the black cat.

  He’d managed to rescue it from the cave-in, but the injuries from their fight were severe.

  Arc’s healing magic was beginner-level only, capable of mending minor wounds at best. He cast the spell over and over.

  “Alright… looks like the worst has passed, at least.”

  He let out a long breath.

  “But healing isn’t my specialty. This isn’t going to fix the real damage.”

  Arc was torn.

  Then a massive crash echoed from deep within the forest. He snapped his gaze in that direction.

  “An explosion like that, in the middle of nowhere?”

  He kicked off the ground and shot into the sky. Scanning toward the sound, he spotted an angel hovering in the distance.

  “No—is Mina fighting all the way out there?!”

  As long as they were searching for the treasure, the angels wouldn’t kill Mina. But capturing her or injuring her was another matter entirely.

  Arc agonized.

  “Do I leave the cat here and go save Mina?”

  But he couldn’t just abandon a familiar whose seal had been improperly broken. And covering that distance would take time.

  Arc descended slowly and stood beside the black cat.

  “I really didn’t want to do this…”

  He plunged his hand into his own chest.

  “Ngh—!”

  Arc extracted the orb of magical power that Lilia had given him. Carefully, he split it in two—returning one half to himself and pressing the other into the black cat’s chest.

  “Wake up, cat!”

  The moment the orb was fully absorbed, the black cat was enveloped in a blinding light.