“Why do they always have to have so many heads?” Rika said with a sigh.
“More faces to smash in—what’s the problem?” Ami said.
“Because that worked so well last time,” Rika said, to which Ami simply laughed.
Adah placed a hand on both of their backs and leaned forward to squeeze her head in between theirs. She looked at the mission brief on Grace’s computer monitor, though there was no information it contained that she didn’t already know. She’d studied too thoroughly for that.
“This won’t be like last time,” Adah said to her teammates. “It won’t be like any mission we’ve done before.”
Adah had lost track of just how much time she’d spent waiting—first her medical clearance, then the preparations for the coalition’s debut, and finally the appearance of a suitable A-Rank Cruelty. Now the time had come. The perfect monster had arrived and was about to step onto a chessboard arranged entirely to expedite its demise. If this Cruelty was hoping for a fair fight, it would be sorely disappointed.
Today’s variant was one that—among all the potential options Elise had identified—Adah had best prepared for. Not only was she confident in her strategy, but she believed it would make for one of the more impressive demonstrations of the coalition’s teamwork.
The Cruelty in question was a three-headed dog, though everyone colloquially referred to it as a cerberus.
“Looks like it’s not targeting humans,” Grace said from behind the crowd of magical girls. “Elise was right about that as well.”
Grace’s comment was based on the fact that this Cruelty’s energy signature had been detected in a relatively remote part of the region. The monster would spawn in a field far to the north, in an area that served as a rural preamble to the sprawling Brume Forest where Ketzia lived. There were stretches of woods near the field, as well as a cattle range not far south. The field itself, with its soft and fertile hills, would surely attract deer and rabbits now that the first warm days of spring have arrived. The Cruelty wouldn’t lack for prey, though none of its options would be human.
This change in tactics was another of Elise’s predictions. Although she wasn’t confident enough to integrate the theory into her model, the Secretary had suggested that the Cruelties would shift the focus of their higher-ranked variants away from attacking urban areas. The monsters knew well enough by now that humanity would respond to even the strongest A-Rank with magic users who could match it. The chances of a Cruelty surviving long enough in a city to reach an evacuation zone—where it could kill defenseless bystanders—had grown incredibly slim.
Despite Region 4 mishandling the hydra Cruelty, even that battle hadn’t resulted in any civilian casualties.
Now the Cruelties had developed a new weapon—one capable of killing not just humans, but even magic users. Elise’s assumption was that, having seen how successful their latest humanoid experiment was, the Cruelties would begin using most other variants to collect as much essence as possible. They would target easy prey like farm animals and wildlife, expend that essence in the creation of powerful humanoids, and use those humanoids to try to kill magic users. If they were successful, they’d manage to build up their reserves of human essence at the same time as they added new spells to their arsenal from defeated magic users.
Today’s mission was another piece of evidence in favor of Elise’s hypothesis.
“Should we be happy that we predicted this or annoyed that they’re adopting a troublesome strategy?” Adah asked.
“That’ll depend on how successful your own strategy is,” Grace answered. “Knowing what your opponent wants to do ahead of time is a big advantage, if you can counter it. How are you feeling about it?”
“A lot better than I was before the hydra,” Adah said.
Part of the reason for that feeling was that all of the magic users involved in this mission had been waiting as eagerly as Adah had been. The fact that Adah’s phone hadn’t stopped vibrating over the past minute was proof of that. All of the coalition teams were reporting in—they had seen the cerberus mission, and they were ready to go.
Unlike the hydra, no one would join this mission at the last minute. Everyone was on the same page, and Adah’s job was simply to lead them to victory.
They had time to spare before the Cruelty spawned in. The energy required to summon an A-Rank was not as great as that of an S-Rank, but it still gave the coalition at least a couple of hours to prepare. Still, Adah didn’t intend to waste that time. She responded to each of the messages that hit her phone, telling the other magic users to meet near the interception point as soon as possible. The earlier they gathered forces, the more time they’d have to review and internalize their battle plan.
And, if needed, to calm their nerves. Adah wasn’t ignorant to the fact that she was asking a lot from her comrades. Seliah and the members of Fifty Flip still hadn’t taken on any B-Rank missions. While Adah believed that they absolutely could handle a higher-ranked mission, the confidence they would have gained from actually doing so couldn’t be replaced. It was essential that DreamRise and the Last Light set an example on today’s mission to keep everyone calm and focused.
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Though, Adah was putting a lot of pressure on her more experienced allies. Ekki, in particular, played a pivotal role in most variations of her strategy. She’d just have to do her best as a leader to help him shoulder that burden. He wouldn’t have agreed to her plan if he didn’t think he could handle it.
“With eleven of us, how could we lose?” Ami said. She stretched her arms across her chest like she was getting ready for a fight.
“We’re an army,” Emi agreed.
“The more of you there are, that’s more people who can get hurt,” Grace warned with a stern look at each of the girls. “Keep an eye on each other. If the Cruelties are switching up where they’re attacking, they might also fight differently than you expect. Don’t take risks based on outdated assumptions.”
“I’ll be keeping an eye on everyone,” Adah said. “We’ll be smart. Worst to come worst, I’ll let go of the leash.”
She had made it sound like a joke, but Adah didn’t smile. Although she was prepared to do anything to make this mission a success, letting the scythe loose was her last resort.
After confirming a rendezvous point with the other coalition teams, Adah began to lead her team outside. Then, to her surprise, a bespectacled boy blocked their path. Adah had nearly forgotten Seb was at the agency office today.
“I won’t be far behind you,” Seb said. “Once I pack the equipment, I’ll hit the road. The whole world needs to see what you’re doing today, right? I’ll give them a view of it they won’t forget.”
Seb had bought himself some new toys thanks to the agency’s bolstered budget. In addition to some new lenses and a backup camera, he had also splurged on a video drone of his own. He’d earned the right to a hefty chunk of the agency’s funds after all his hard work. Besides, it wasn’t like any of the girls were interested in renovating the office any time soon. They’d grown too fond of eating at that tiny coffee table together.
“Are you good at flying it yet?” Emi asked him.
“I’d like to think I’ve got a good handle on it,” he said, failing to hold back a boastful grin. “You four weren’t the only ones practicing all month.”
“Good,” Emi said, returning his smile, though hers hid none of her pride. “Because I’ll be going fast, and you need to catch all of it.”
“However fast you go, I’ll keep up.”
The two of them shared that smile a second longer before Ami crashed into their moment.
“Get some good shots of me, too!” she said. “And don’t mix us up either!”
“I wouldn’t!” Seb yelled.
With the way she behaved, Adah couldn’t tell if Ami wanted to help her sister’s chances or hurt them. Perhaps that’d require its own strategy meeting after the cerberus was dealt with.
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“Everyone in here?” Adah asked.
In response, a cacophony of affirmations hit Adah’s ears—some mumbled, some screamed, and some nearly drowned out by all the other noise.
The eleven members of the coalition had formed a circle in the air above the mission’s interception point. Before the Cruelty arrived, they had some logistics to sort out, beginning with their communication. None of them had ever spoken in a magic channel with this many people participating before.
“One at a time!” Adah yelled back. “Starting with my team.”
“Roger!” Ami shouted.
“Present,” Emi said.
“Here,” Rika signed in.
The other coalition teams announced their presence one at a time afterward until every member was accounted for. This, Adah realized, was a whole other challenge they should have practiced dealing with ahead of time.
“We need discipline during the mission,” Adah said. “There’s a lot of us in here, so the worst thing we can do is try to yell over each other. Once the Cruelty shows up, let’s reserve this channel for my calls and for sharing new info that everyone needs to know. If you only need to coordinate with the people near you, say it out loud.”
Switching between a magic channel this busy and a smaller one with specific people would be too difficult in the heat of battle, but they could at least take advantage of separating their mental and physical modes of communication. No matter what, it was essential that everyone was able to hear Adah in their heads at all times. That was her role in this mission.
“I’ll be watching all of you, all the time,” Adah said as she looked around the circle of magic users. “The Cruelty as well. We each have a job in this fight, and that’s mine. We can’t approach this like we would any random battle. Rather than adapting on the fly, or trying to do anything special, we need to execute our assigned roles as precisely as possible. That’s how this plan is designed, and that’s how we’ll make the most out all eleven of us being here.”
Ami smacked her hands together. Spending time around Ketzia again had inspired her to find new ways to play around with her own magic. One trick she’d discovered was that she could start to cast her water shield as she clapped her hands, then release the spell immediately after. The resulting half-formed shields broke apart right away, such that it looked as though Ami was splashing her hands in a puddle with each clap. Rather than her fooling around, it was a sign of Ami’s growing comfort with her spells. If the girl ever did become Untethered, she’d have the time of her life.
“It’s like Michel told me,” Ami said after shaking the water off her hands. “The way to win is to become the perfect weapon for the job.”
“That’s the idea,” Adah agreed. “I’m asking you all to be weapons. My weapons, to be honest. I have full faith in each of you, but if we’re going to operate like this, I want to know if you trust me. If I tell you to do something—even if it doesn’t make sense from your perspective of the battle—will you trust me enough to do it?”
Another whirlwind of voices rampaged through Adah’s head before the coalition members sorted themselves out and voiced their agreement one by one. Even Clair chimed in at the end to show her solidarity in her own way.
“I’ll do it,” the girl said, “but if you get me killed, you can expect one hell of a haunting.”
With that, there was only one voice Adah hadn’t heard. A certain girl was holding her tongue, almost assuredly for the theatrics of it than any real hesitation. Still, every head in this circle of magic users turned toward Iris and set the pressure on her.
“Do you really need me to say it?” Iris said. “As if I would be here if I thought there was the slimmest chance this would be the end. I’d drag Heartbreak home by the hair. It’s far too early in my story for her to die.”
Adah shared a look with her old rival. The girl’s eyes were as clear as the sky above.
In that case, there was nothing left to say.
The buzzing of drone climbing through the air signaled the arrival of Seb, which meant it wouldn’t be long before the Cruelty itself appeared.
Adah called upon her scythe. Its handle was hot to the touch. Feverish.
The weapon sensed something in her heart that even she didn’t want to recognize. Its power surged in response, lunging for her like a starved beast. She calmed herself and forced the scythe’s energy back under her control.
Her scythe had its own job to perform today. After haunting her with all of those visions, it was time for it to show her what she wanted to see.