"Hurry up, Index!"
Grabbing Index, Ruiko ran toward the research institute for all she was worth. Right now she was kind of regretting leaving the lab so early. If they were still there, then Fang Zheng would definitely be able to protect Index. Maybe she’d just been way too relaxed, and that’s why she ran into something like this.
Back to the point, who the hell were those guys anyway? She’d originally thought they were just delinquents from the Armed Powerless Group, but that guy just now... was he an Ability User?
Then why attack Index?
Ruiko’s head was a mess of questions, but she still dragged Index forward at a run. However, just as the two of them rounded a corner, the tall figure in front of them forced them to stop in their tracks.
"Oh, sorry about that."
The two-meter-tall red-haired man with a cigarette in his mouth watched Ruiko and Index with a cruel little smile, then reached out his hand.
"Can you hand her over to us? Recovering that thing is our mission, you see."
"Recover... you said recover?!"
Hearing this, Ruiko instantly glared angrily at the redhead in front of her.
"She’s not some kind of object! I will never let you take her!"
"Is that so..."
Hearing Ruiko’s answer, the red-haired man closed his eyes, then opened them again.
"I don’t really want to get into a fight with someone from the Science Side, but... looks like I don’t have a choice."
As he spoke, the red-haired man raised his hand.
"Stiyl Magnus, Fortis931."
"Huh?"
Ruiko was a bit dumbfounded by his actions, not understanding why he suddenly reported his own name. But at that moment, Index hurriedly shouted.
"Watch out, Ruiko! For a Magician, stating their Magic Title means they’re declaring war!"
"BOOOOM——!!!"
Index’s warning hadn’t even finished when a massive blaze roared out from the redhead’s hand. Seeing this, Ruiko jumped in fright.
So this is Magic? No? Or is he an Ability User who manipulates fire? But whichever he is...
I absolutely won’t back down!
With that thought, Ruiko pulled an iron rod from the pocket of her skirt and flicked it hard. In the next instant, the rod rapidly extended, transforming into a Longsword.
This was also specially designed for Ruiko by Fang Zheng. After all, a girl walking down the street with a sword was way too conspicuous, and on top of that, Japan had annoying things like the "Sword and Firearms Control Law." So he made it into a telescoping weapon. That way she could use it as a fruit knife in daily life, and if she ran into danger, she just had to extend it to turn it into a weapon.
"I won’t let you lay a finger on that kid!"
Speaking, Ruiko raised the Longsword in her hand. Thanks to the memories in her head and the training she’d gone through recently, she’d more or less picked up a few tricks on how to fight.
Thinking this, Ruiko closed her eyes.
"I shall walk with the wind..."
"Whooo..."
A gentle breeze quietly rose along Ruiko’s body, swirling outward. Then Ruiko opened her eyes and locked her gaze on the red-haired man ahead. She lowered her stance, gripped the Longsword, and suddenly dashed forward!
In that instant, Ruiko practically became a Hayate, rapidly closing the distance with the redhead. Seeing this, the red-haired man gave a cold snort, then clenched his right hand.
"A gift of pain for the giants!"
With his roar, a massive Fire Sword several meters long came slashing down at Ruiko. Seeing this, Ruiko was shocked.
Not good!
Facing the gigantic Flame Sword descending from above, Ruiko hurriedly skidded to a stop and whipped her Longsword forward. With her motion, a howling gale sprang up from the ground, forming a Wind Wall in front of her that blocked the Flame Blade falling from the sky.
"Interesting."
Watching Ruiko block his attack, the red-haired man curled his lips in a satisfied smile. He tightened his right hand again, Summoning another mass of fire.
"Then how about this!"
As the Wind Wall dissipated, the red-haired man swung his hand forward again. Flames blasted out, rushing toward Ruiko. Ruiko tightened her grip on the Longsword and flicked it forward once more. In an instant, the airflow twisted into a vortex, shooting out toward the oncoming flames. The two forces collided heavily, then suddenly Burst apart!
"BOOM!!!"
Both sides involuntarily took a step back from the scattering flames and air currents. The redhead’s expression darkened a little, while Ruiko, on the other hand, looked rather excited.
I can do this!
Staring at the red-haired man, Ruiko gripped her Longsword again. It wasn’t like she’d never trained with anyone before: Fang Zheng, Kuroko, and Misaka Mikoto had all sparred with her. It was just that back then, Ruiko always felt she had zero chance of winning. No matter who she faced, she’d lose cleanly in just a few moves—honestly, it was brutal.
To the point that a few times, Ruiko had even suspected she had no talent at all and was about to get bullied into social withdrawal.
But now, to her surprise, she’d actually managed to trade blows with the redhead?
Looks like... he’s not that impressive after all?
Interesting.
Staring at Ruiko, the red-haired man’s expression grew serious. This girl’s way of fighting wasn’t quite like what he imagined from a Superpower User, but it didn’t look like a Mage’s style either. She just gave off this indescribably weird vibe. Even so, he could tell that this girl clearly had combat experience; otherwise, she wouldn’t have blocked his attack so easily.
If that’s how it is...
"O great Flame of the Ancestor, one of the Five Grand Elements that constructs the world..."
"Huh?"
Hearing him suddenly start chanting some weird Spell Text, Ruiko froze for a moment. Index, however, did not. She shouted at the top of her voice.
"Stop him now, Ruiko! That’s a Pope Level Magic!!"
"Ah—oh!!"
Ruiko didn’t know what exactly this Pope Level Magic Index was talking about was, but from the flames gathering around the red-haired man, she could tell he was obviously preparing to attack. So she didn’t hesitate any longer, quickly nodded, then raised her Longsword and brought it down toward the redhead again. A howling whirlwind shot out, surging toward him.
And just as the whirlwind reached him, the red-haired man finished his chant.
"Manifest, devour my body and turn it into strength—! Witch King Hunter!!"
"BOOOOM——!!"
Scorching flames erupted from beneath his feet, surging upward to form a massive humanoid of fire. It stretched out its hand and condensed a Longsword from nothing, then swung it down at the whirlwind Ruiko had unleashed, swallowing it effortlessly.
"Uwaaah, th-that’s real Magic?"
Seeing the Flame Giant before her, seemingly alive, Ruiko was shocked. Even during the exchange just now, she’d been treating him as a fire-manipulating Ability User. After all, everything he’d done so far could theoretically be done with just Superpower. As for all that archaic stuff he was chanting, Ruiko had just written him off as some chuunibyou.
But this Flame Giant that looked like it actually had life in it was definitely not something you could make with just Ability!
If this were any other Ability User, they’d probably be questioning their entire worldview right about now. Ruiko was different. Until not long ago, she’d been a Non-Ability User. Back then, for her, both Magic and Superpower were like clouds in the sky—so far out of reach. Now that she actually had Superpower, the idea that Magic existed in this world didn’t seem all that impossible anymore.
"Haaah!!"
With that thought, Ruiko swung her sword again, releasing several whirlwinds—but they were all blocked by the massive Flame Giant.
"Looks like you’re already out of tricks."
Staring at Ruiko in front of him, the red-haired man spoke with a cold sneer.
"Uu........."
"Careful, Ruiko! Attacking the Witch King won’t do anything, you have to erase the Rune Inscriptions carved on the walls, the ground and so on!"
"Eh? Runes? Inscriptions? Where? Where?"
Hearing Index’s guidance, Ruiko hurriedly looked around, but under the pitch black night sky, aside from the Flame Giant burning in front of her, she couldn’t see anything around at all. And just then, that Flame Giant was already roaring as it lunged toward Ruiko.
Not good!
"Wind Wall!"
Ruiko quickly pushed herself back, once again calling forth the Wind Wall to block the Flame Giant’s advance. But at the same time, she noticed the red-haired man standing behind the Flame Giant raising both hands, Summoning new flames.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust......"
Not good!
"Bloodsucking Hunter Red Cross!!"
With the red-haired man’s furious roar, the flames in his hands instantly turned into two blades that crossed and cleaved toward Ruiko. Before Ruiko could run, the two swords crashed into the Flame Giant’s body, and then exploded completely like bombs.
"BOOOOM———!!"
The flames erupted.
Ruiko was slammed to the ground, rolling several times before she finally stopped. At this moment her consciousness was hazy, and she was covered in wounds from head to toe. Seeing this, Index gasped in shock, hurriedly ran to Ruiko’s side, and shook her hard.
"Ruiko, are you okay, Ruiko......"
"Uu......"
Hearing Index’s voice, Ruiko slowly opened her eyes, then gradually pushed herself up.
"I’m fine, don’t worry, Index......you hurry and go, I’ll hold this guy off, you go to Mr. Fang Zheng, he’ll definitely have a way......"
"But......"
"I’ll figure out a way to hold here."
Ruiko stood up again, gripping the Longsword in her hand. Seeing this scene, Index hurriedly grabbed her.
"Ruiko, don’t keep fighting, this isn’t even your battle."
"No, this is my battle."
Ruiko took a breath and squared herself, staring at the Flame Giant in front of her.
"Index, until not long ago, I was just an ordinary Non-Ability User. Back then I went through some stuff, and I thought, maybe if I had powers, things would be different. But that wasn’t how it turned out. Actually, it wasn’t about whether I had powers or not, it was about what I wanted to do."
As she spoke, Ruiko once again raised her Longsword.
"To be honest, I’ve only known you for one day, I don’t even really know much about you, but I do know this—if I just stand here and let you go with these people for my sake, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life!"
With that, Ruiko tightened her grip on the Longsword.
"This hard-won power exists for this very reason!"
Before her words had even fallen, Ruiko dashed out again, charging straight toward the Flame Giant. The Flame Giant also raised the sword in its hand and swung down at Ruiko.
"Haa! Hah!!"
Facing the Flame Giant’s attack, Ruiko refused to back down, swinging her sword again and again to unleash whirlwinds. But whether it was because of her previous injuries or not, the whirlwinds she unleashed had almost no power, and were easily scattered by the Flame Giant. Finally, as if she could no longer hold on, Ruiko suddenly bent over and collapsed to the ground. At the same time, the Flame Giant’s Longsword swung down again.
"BOOOM!!!"
The roaring flames completely swallowed the ground where Ruiko had been. Seeing this, Index couldn’t help but scream.
"RUIKOOOO—————!!"
"Hmph."
At this sight, the red-haired man snorted, then took out a cigarette and put it to his lips.
"So that’s all. Looks like Ability Users aren’t that impressive after all."
"You sure about that?"
What the red-haired man didn’t expect was that, at this moment, Ruiko’s figure suddenly burst out of the flames. She didn’t even care about the tongues of fire still licking at her body, gripping her Longsword tight as she swung it down at the red-haired man again!
"Fwoooosh———!"
This time, an even stronger whirlwind than before rose from the ground, directly swallowing the red-haired man and tossing him into the air. At the same time, Ruiko gripped the Longsword tight, Berserk air currents spinning and spreading out from her as the center, in the blink of an eye turning into a roaring tornado.
Please, this time you have to work!
"Gale End Slash!"
The girl’s body leapt up under the lash of the storm, reaching the red-haired man’s side almost instantly.
Sword raised! Sword falling!
The blade shining with Radiance flickered into view as Ruiko, body and sword as one, shot back and forth within the vortex formed by the hurricane, ricocheting again and again. Several arcs of sword light crossed one another, and in the next instant, Ruiko crashed heavily to the ground, while at the same time, the red-haired man also fell from the sky with a "thud," slamming into the ground.
"Ruiko, Ruiko! Stay with me!"
Index hurriedly ran to Ruiko’s side again, but this time, no matter how she tried, Ruiko just couldn’t get back up.
"Uu......"
At this moment, the red-haired man slowly stood up. He stretched out his hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze toward Ruiko filled with fury.
"Witch King!!"
With the red-haired man’s roar, the giant of flames condensed once more, appearing before the two girls.
However......
"Get rid of them both for me........."
"BOOM!!"
Before the red-haired man could finish, a huge iron ball suddenly shot out from behind him, slamming straight into him and sending him flying.
At the same time, a voice Ruiko knew very well rang out.
"Al. Shuma!"
With that voice, massive icicles fell from the sky, completely impaling the Flame Giant’s body.
This time, the Flame Giant finally couldn’t hold on anymore. It let out an enraged wail, then vanished into the freezing chill.
"Clank clank clank........."
Just then, the sound of chains slowly echoed out from deep within the alley.

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