Regarding the fact that my best friend is a magical girl

All of this was within Liu's expectations.

"...Tsk!"

Betelgeuse, who is used to hiding as soon as it lands, unexpectedly discovers that a familiar, damned, time-manipulating magical girl is already waiting for her arrival at the fountain.

"Morning Star...why..."

coincidence?

Or was it premeditated?

Betelgeuse muttered to herself, but the execution squad's main targets were never magical girls, and she didn't like direct combat. She would retreat first, deal with the two traitors who had colluded, and then come back to take revenge on the guy in front of her...

Having made up his mind, Betelgeuse prepared to disband his clones and reassemble them elsewhere. However, before he could do so, a sharp whip of light struck from behind. Having sensed it beforehand, Betelgeuse dodged to the side and dissipated along the way...

Without a doubt, the light whip came from the First Magical Girl. Although no one was seen, she was lying in ambush in this forest...

Betelgeuse was certain that it had fallen into a trap.

It's highly likely that those two traitors colluded with the association.

Abandon the mission?

That's impossible, of course.

The plan remains unchanged; prioritize resolving the objectives!

The two-story villa, mainly made of glass, had no attic or basement. Both targets were in the second-floor annex. Thanks to this transparent structure, their situation was clearly visible to Betelgeuse... This villa was practically built to be targeted!

With all the magical girls out on patrol, the area around the villa was quite empty, and Betelgeuse, full of joy, began to gamble in his "armory".

SVD sniper rifle, you're pretty lucky.

It is powerful and semi-automatic.

It eliminates the need to reload after each shot, which is ideal for situations where targets are sitting close together.

Although the accuracy is a bit lacking, the distance is perfectly adequate.

The rain was pouring down. Under the cover of the bushes, she lay prone on the ground and licked her lips. The robot clone naturally couldn't taste them; it was just a habitual action.

The crosshair is locked onto the target.

Human snipers may be less effective in harsh conditions like torrential rain, but a robot clone would not be.

The precision of machinery is Betelgeuse's advantage.

She steadily pulled the trigger, and the fired bullet shot out from the spiral-shaped barrel.

boom--

The traitor sitting on the sofa.

The Mermaid Witch had half her head sliced ​​off by a 7.62mm bullet.

7. Flow, flow together

One done!

The hunter was overjoyed to have caught his prey.

But this joy didn't stop her from moving her crosshair to the second target...

"Um?!"

Betelgeuse then discovered that its "body" had been firmly bound to the ground by weeds and vines that had grown out of nowhere.

The mechanical body had no sense of touch and was focused on sniping, so it was completely unaware of the binding process. When it came to its senses, it was already unable to move, and it couldn't even get up.

Betelgeuse's thinking is somewhat confused. Manipulating plants is one of the werewolves' abilities, though its range is limited.

But he's still at the villa a hundred meters away...

Looking at the villa again through the sniper scope, both targets had vanished without a trace.

Oh no, I've been tricked.

Although it doesn't fully understand yet, Betelgeuse has a vague sense of something—the target is not dead.

Not only that, but now the situation has become one where the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light.

"Have wolves become hunters?"

She gritted her teeth.

For a skilled assassin, nothing could be more humiliating than becoming her prey.

But how could these vines and grasses possibly restrain her?

The machine dissipates on the spot, transforming into magical energy finer than dust, and then moves in a certain direction. In this state, Betelgeuse's observation of the outside world becomes rudimentary, its connection with this world gradually weakens, and even basic vision cannot be guaranteed, as if it is wandering in a black and white dream...

Even in this state, she still retains the core to control the scattered magic power.

But this extremely tiny core was stolen by Liu.

It's telekinesis.

Supernatural powers can grasp objects that cannot be captured under normal circumstances. "Telekinesis" is essentially a form of telekinesis. Liu stole the core of Betelgeuse after it dissipated. Without the core, the magic dissipated on the spot. Without the core, the magic could not be solidified and quickly disappeared.

Betelgeuse, the mission failed again.

She never imagined that Liu was using telekinesis just to keep her here; he didn't even realize what he had grabbed, and was still looking around...

"Don't bother looking anymore, her magic has dissipated."

The Mermaid Witch confirmed this through her sense of magic.

Liu then realized what was happening.

"Oh! I won?"

The Mermaid Witch didn't interfere, but she looked very tired.

"It's less about winning and more about being completely fooled by your deception... To be so easily fooled by a false projection, doesn't Betelgeuse have infrared thermal imaging cameras?"

It's all about projection, from beginning to end.

Whether it was Milno seen when Betelgeuse landed, the light whip encountered later, or the "Mermaid Witch" whose head was blown off, they were all illusions created by Ryu's new toys. They didn't even have a physical form, much like the holographic projection of the airship.

However, the robot clone only has sight and hearing. The lack of these senses prevents Betelgeuse from distinguishing between the real and the fake. Whether it is the fake Milno or the bait in the villa, it does not make any move. It is deceived by this cardboard doll-like projection and even disbands the clone, revealing a fatal flaw...

Despite having been killed with a single blow, the Mermaid Witch felt that Ryu was not so terrifying after witnessing her "easily" defeat Betelgeuse.

After all, in her opinion, she and Liu were evenly matched.

An untimely ringing of a bell rang out amidst the heavy rain.

"Wow! It's Miss Sirius calling!"

Liu covered his phone and ran to a nearby tree to answer the call.

"Hey! You idiot, are you still wearing my women's clothes in my villa?"

Due to Betelgeuse's surprise attack, Sirius's clothes were burned when he summoned his armor. It's not hard to imagine how expensive Sirius's clothing must have been, hence his change of topic.

"Ahem, that hunter witch attacked again, but we've already dealt with her."

"Solved? Well done... Wait, you said 'you guys'? The Mermaid Witch is with you now?"

That sounds weird.

It's as if I did something to Miss Water Management Committee...

"Well, she's right here beside me."

"Okay! We'll cancel the sortie mission here and send the magical girl who was on her way back... I'll be there in a bit, so don't let her get away again!"

"Wait, I haven't convinced you yet... um... I'm hanging up."

Before Liu could explain, Sirius hung up the phone.

He looked up and asked, "Alright, I've dealt with the executioner as promised. What do you plan to do now? Accept my proposal, or get rid of me?"

"Since they've sent Betelgeuse again, it means I'm no longer trusted."

I haven't received any new tasks in my mind, so I can be pretty sure that I've been used as a pawn again.

"Miss Sirius is coming soon, and she wants to see you."

"I'm leaving."

Liu was worried that the Mermaid Witch would leave, and sure enough, she turned around and left.

"Huh? Wait! Why?"

He tried to grab the mermaid witch's wrist, but was violently shaken off by the rain on her hand.

"Don't come any closer! Even if I've been abandoned, I'm still a warrior on 'the other side.' How could I possibly sit down and talk to a magical girl?"

"Miss Sirius is different from other magical girls."

Liu pointed to himself.

“I’m still wanted by the association, but Miss Sirius secretly helped me evade Spica’s pursuit, kept my secret, and even gave me this hiding place… If you explain things to her, she’ll definitely believe you!”

How could the Mermaid Witch not know about Sirius?

Because she understood him, she didn't know how to face him. Although she had memories of Kawakami, she didn't feel like it was her.

However, she didn't have much time to dwell on it.

A wormhole appeared in the sky.

White.

------

Looking at the mess inside, Sirius frowned slightly, though it wasn't his usual place of residence, it was still a design he liked.

"Sorry, such a nice house has been damaged."

"It's alright, it's already beyond my expectations that it wasn't blown up by Betelgeuse."

"Perhaps the house was too transparent, which made her feel that there was no need to use explosives..."

Liu appeared humble and subservient in front of Sirius.