Regarding the fact that my best friend is a magical girl

"Is Miss Spica coming?"

"Who else could it be? They must have seen the communication cut off and the flashes of fire from the explosion, so they rushed over to check the situation..."

It shouldn't take too long to travel by boat from the Hawaii branch, since you can open a wormhole directly here.

"...But that's too reckless; she might get sniped."

Would Miss Spica act without thinking?

"Hopefully it won't happen... You should hide first, so that Spica doesn't see you."

"Flow" seems to be the name of ui-31.

Although Miss Sirius said that, the latter is still injured. That assassin monster has special arrows that target his armor. Letting him act alone would expose him to danger.

"Shall I hide with him? My protective shield can overcome his weaknesses."

"You two might both be that guy's targets. Aren't you afraid of being taken away by him if you get together?"

"...Um, what should we do then?"

"There's an air-raid shelter left over from World War II in the northwest corner. You'll see it if you walk west along the north bank. Go in there and hide for a while. Once Miluno comes out, I'll have her come find you. If that guy follows you too, you'll have to figure out how to deal with him... Liu, how confident are you in dealing with this kind of old fox?"

When asked this question by Miss Sirius, ui-31 thought for a moment, then uncertainly extended a hand.

"Fifty percent? That's a bit low... What about Seruno-chan?"

ui-31 thought for a moment, then stretched out another hand.

Miss Sirius joked, "Ten percent? Heh, you're that confident just because there's a girl around?"

ui-31 didn't deny it. He tapped his breastplate, making a "clanging" sound... I wasn't sure if this was really Ye Zi.

Miss Sirius chuckled and urged, "Alright, you guys hurry up and leave. We can't let Spica see Liu's presence."

ui-31 nodded and then gestured for me to proceed.

This jungle is full of traps set by that assassin, and he actually made me walk in front of him... even though he's wounded right now.

I said, "I'll trust you for now, but don't even think about ambushing me, okay?"

"Ow."

I walked ahead, carefully watching out for traps on the road, heading north along the moss-covered stone path.

This is a road that few people travel. The north shore beach of Nabu Island is short and located in the shade of the mountains, so you can't get much sun. There is more silt than sand, so not many people go there.

Behind me, the buzzing sound suddenly intensified.

A striking white dot falls from above the ring, and Miss Spica emerges through the wormhole...

That is, Magical Girl Virgo, a magical girl who is like a mummy.

boom--

The loud noise shattered the silence of the rainforest.

It was probably using some kind of anti-materiel sniper rifle; such a loud sound was hardly concealed. We thus confirmed the assassin's approximate location. In order to eliminate our support, the assassin also abandoned some of his principles.

A large-caliber bullet accurately hit the falling Spica, leaving a gaping hole in the mummy girl's body, with half of her body dangling below, a heartbreaking sight.

But upon closer inspection, the "Virgo" that was hit was just a hollow dummy made of a silk scarf. The real Miss Spica had just passed through the wormhole, but the assassin clearly didn't have time to prepare the next sniper shot, missing this opportunity to besiege the point and attack the reinforcements.

As expected of Miss Spica, she outmaneuvered the enemy the moment she appeared.

Worrying about her is unnecessary; we should worry about ourselves. The gunshots we heard just now weren't far away, which shows that the assassin did indeed sneak up on us. But apart from passive defense, we currently have no way to counter this kind of rogue "hit and run" tactic.

"Let's go, Miss Spica is alright."

"Umm..."

I gave a shout and continued with the UI-31 toward the air-raid shelter that Miss Sirius had mentioned.

I didn't get a chance to speak to him the whole way. He just followed me without doing anything extra. I just wanted him to take off his helmet, but I didn't know how to ask...

"Ow!"

There was a commotion coming from the bushes on the right; something flew out.

Despite the UI-31's howling warning, I didn't have time to react before those things started clanging and banging against my protective film.

Chapter 46

(Sun Yao)

Several large blades struck, each blow heavy, causing unstable ripples to bounce on the protective membrane, but I didn't trigger any tripwires or traps.

In other words, these hidden weapons were likely thrown by the assassin himself.

"This guy has a really wide variety of weapons."

Just as Miss Sirius said, its attacks became increasingly powerful. This flying wheel, despite being a melee weapon, almost shattered my protective shield. Fortunately, as before, it didn't pursue me, only launching a sneak attack each time. If it failed to land a hit, it would disappear into the darkness to wait for the next opportunity...

This assassin was more cautious than anyone could have imagined.

The ui-31 picked up the several large flywheels and hung them on its lower back, seemingly intending to use them as weapons.

"Be careful, it's already following us."

"Awoo!"

"Let's not stray too far apart. Even if we spot our target, we must come back as soon as possible if we lose track of them."

"Mmm!"

I sensed that ui-31 was in a good mood; he seemed quite willing to follow my instructions.

Just a little more patience, and we'll be out of the jungle soon.

On that relatively open beach, the assassin's room to maneuver would be limited, but she could still hide in the jungle and shoot at us. Once she entered the air-raid shelter, she would have to chase us in and confront us head-on.

whoosh-

With a slight whooshing sound, UI-31 tilted its head to dodge another black crossbow bolt. Its reaction speed was no less than Miluno's. After dodging, it slammed its hand on the ground. Sometime during the night, its right wrist was covered by a green plant-shaped gauntlet. An invisible energy chased after the direction from which the crossbow bolt flew, and the plants along the way began to grow wildly. The outstretched tendrils were like conscious arms, wrapping around a target in the darkness.

"scare--"

The werewolf charged forward with a low growl, seemingly having made some progress.

"You succeeded?"

I also walked through the bushes and chased after her. After walking more than ten meters, I finally had the chance to catch a glimpse of the assassin's beautiful face... well, it was indeed beautiful.

"A strange woman... no, a witch?"

The tangled branches caught a "woman".

A beautiful face was revealed beneath a large, dark green cloak. Although she was humanoid, she looked more like a robot overall. Her dark paint job allowed her to move stealthily in the jungle at night. She had a pair of wings on her back, which should have been propulsion devices, but they were folded back like fans, probably for better concealment.

"...Got caught? Miss Witch, it seems you lost this game of hide-and-seek."

Although I didn't catch it, it didn't stop me from feeling smug.

"But don't worry, as long as you behave, we won't hurt you."

I raised my wand, intending to trap her in a bubble.

"Ow!"

The werewolf next to me suddenly pounced on me, using his body to pin me down. Although his armor didn't look heavy, I couldn't push him away for a moment.

"What you need to do is—"

Before he could finish his panicked question, a series of explosions blasted at his back. His protective shield shattered in the first round of blasts, and through the smoke and dust, I could see what was launching the attack.

They are six hand-shaped machines that fly in the air.

These floating, cannon-like mechanical arms are controlled by the robotic witch. They ambush us from above with rocket-propelled weapons, only launching their attack when we approach her... It's an elaborate trap; she deliberately got entangled in these branches to catch us off guard.

Although the rockets failed to penetrate the back armor of the UI-31, he was still unable to get up in a disheveled state, seemingly stunned by the bombardment. He lay on me in a daze. The witch's wrist flicked out a sharp arm blade that cut through the old tree roots, and after freeing herself, she conjured a pitch-black dagger in her hand.

It appears to be made of a similar material to the Black Arrow. Although it couldn't break through my protective shield, it could easily slice through the werewolf's back armor.

The werewolf needs to be re-protected, but...

"Hey! Wake up!"

My wand fell to the side when I fell, just centimeters from my fingertips, but I couldn't reach it because the ui-31 was pressing down on me.

The mechanical witch wore a triumphant smile on her inorganic face as she strode closer, dagger raised high.

"Well."

ui-31 propped himself up on the ground, unaware of the danger approaching from behind.

"Quickly open!"

My reminder startled him awake. A stream of high-temperature heat gushed out from the air duct behind the armor, and a red glow appeared between the gaps in the armor.

Burst form.

The heat forced the mechanical witch back, and he quickly sprang up from the ground. A slender fist sword grew from the gauntlet on his right wrist, and he thrust it at his opponent with rage, but it was all deflected by the dagger and arm blade. Even some of the armor plates on his body were removed. While fighting, he also had to be wary of the interference attacks from the mechanical arms in the air.

Clearly, the UI-31 was at a disadvantage.

The witch was indeed formidable; she could even use her skills to suppress the faster UI-31. Seven years ago, the witch who went to "the other side" had no weaklings. I was too careless in approaching her...

But she didn't leave, so we still have a chance!

I picked up the magic wand next to me and added a protective layer to the UI-31. As long as the membrane didn't break, the witch's dagger wouldn't be able to hurt him. However, as a price for assisting in the battle, the four mechanical arms shifted their target and attacked me with crossbows, pistols, short knives, and toilet pegs. At first glance, they looked like light weapons, but they were all quite powerful. The continuous attacks could quickly break through my defenses.

So, just how many weapons does she actually have?

Why are there still toilet pegs?

Even though I restrained these mechanical arms with bubbles, they could quickly burst the bubble membrane. Continuing to use magic made me a little breathless, but this mechanical witch seemed to be more impatient than us. She suddenly threw out several round spheres, which exploded into a choking smoke.

Then, they escaped using the smoke as cover.

What kind of ninja is this guy?

They could have solved our problem, but they suddenly ran away?

The werewolf sheathed his arm blades, circled me once, and only after confirming that I was alright did he pat his chest armor and breathe a sigh of relief.

He was clearly in a worse state than I was; his armor was badly damaged, exposing its internal structure and wiring.