Chapter 47: The Light Beyond the Halo

Some time had passed since the fierce battle began between Mika, intent on destroying Saori’s halo, and me, determined to stop her.

“Haa… haa… Outsider-chan, aren’t you being too stubborn…?” Mika panted.

“Fufu… I’ll take that as a compliment, Mika,” I replied, catching my breath.

Taking advantage of a brief lull in the fight, we instinctively stepped back, keeping some distance to recover.

“Phew… you really don’t give an inch, do you? You’re looking pretty tired, though,” Mika said.

“Oh my, I’m still fine,” I shot back, though honestly, I was starting to feel the strain despite my bravado.

Since arriving in Kaoru’s body, this was the first time I’d truly felt pain in a fight, separate from mere damage.

Mika’s headbutt earlier had hit like a hammer—exactly as brutal as it sounds.

“Geez… ugh… so stupid…” Mika muttered, catching her breath across from me.

The small comfort was that she looked just as exhausted.

No visible injuries, but her arms and legs, exposed beneath her Tea Party uniform, bore the marks of our grueling clash.

Noticing a slight limp, she bent to adjust her torn stockings, grumbling, “Hey, outsider-chan, isn’t kicking a lady’s legs a bit barbaric?”

“Fufu, Mika, from what I know, ladies don’t usually swing guns to crack people’s skulls,” I retorted.

“Oh? But you’ve never actually swung that sword at me properly. Am I being underestimated?” she teased, catching onto something.

“Hmm… maybe,” I said evasively, glancing at the sword in my right hand.

I didn’t fully understand why, but whether due to Kaoru’s nature or my incomplete mastery of the weapon, I couldn’t bring myself to swing it at a person.

I’d confirmed this limitation when I tested it on a Pater faction member’s hair.

Even if I could, I wouldn’t dare use it on a Kivotos resident without knowing its full power—especially against Mika.

“But you swinging that gun instead of shooting isn’t exactly underestimating me, is it?” I countered.

“Hahat, true! You’re just too fast to hit with bullets,” Mika admitted.

We both knew conventional weapon use wasn’t working, so we’d resorted to a less Kivotos-like approach: hand-to-hand combat.

Who’d think fists hurt more than bullets?

I grumbled internally, reeling from Mika’s monstrous strength.

As I mulled this over, Mika, now stretching her fingers, asked casually, “Hey, outsider-chan, we still doing this? Just step aside for a bit, and I’ll finish quick.”

“My answer’s the same. I’d hoped you’d remember by now, fufu,” I replied.

“…That laugh’s getting annoying,” she growled, her lifeless eyes blinking as she slowly raised her gun.

Bang!

The shot signaled the end of our brief truce.

I dodged the bullet by a hair, launching myself at her.

“Haha! Again? So predictable!” Mika swung her gun like a club, as expected.

I knew from earlier attempts that disarming her mystic-infused weapon was impossible when she used it this way.

Time for a different approach.

During our brief rest, I’d made up my mind.

Instead of blocking her strike with my sword, I let it glance off my body.

WHAM!

“Ugh…” That really hurts.

Gritting my teeth against the pain in my shoulder, I drove my sword into the empty trigger guard of her gun, which she held reversed as a club.

CLANG!

The sharp clash of metal rang out as my blade locked into her gun at an angle.

“What?!” Mika yelped, realizing our weapons were entangled.

I twisted my wrist, swinging upward.

“Ack!”

Our grips faltered, and both weapons flew into the air.

“Fufu.” Exactly as planned.

In pure physical strength, I had the edge.

Grab!

“Urk?!”

I lunged, pinning Mika against the wall before she could react.

BAM!

“Ow!” she grunted as her back hit the wall.

I pressed my body against hers, locking her in place, my arm pinning her neck and my knee blocking her movement.

Her skin, hot from the fight, pressed against mine through her uniform.

“Stay… still…” I panted.

“Haa… haa…”

Our faces inches apart, we locked eyes, breathing heavily in silence.

Now what? Sensei’s still not here…

Mika couldn’t move, but neither could I.

If I gave her an inch, she’d throw me off with her strength.

As I debated my next move, Mika, who’d been staring at me without resisting, spoke first.

“…Outsider-chan.”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you keep getting in my way?” Her voice was unexpectedly soft, catching me off guard.

“Saori’s a would-be murderer who attacked you and Sensei. Why protect her from me?”

“Fufu… I already gave Saori her punishment,” I said, unsure if she could hear us from the rubble.

I needed to buy time.

“And honestly, that’s for Master to decide—”

“But why?!” Mika suddenly shouted, her face twisting in a way I’d never seen.

“Huh?” I froze, stunned.

“I’m the one whose life was ruined because of her! Why can’t I punish her?!”

Tears streamed from her yellow eyes, her voice raw with anguish.

“…”

Her outburst left me speechless as she continued, her halo crackling ominously, reflecting her turmoil.

“This has nothing to do with you, Itokonoue Kaoru!”

Zzt.

Her halo flickered violently, its once-bright pink now a sinister shade.

“Please… don’t stop me. Let me make her pay the same price I did…”

Her furious shouts turned to desperate, tearful pleas.

“It’s the only way I can still be me… sob…”

Zzt-zzt.

Her halo’s erratic flickering revealed her true feelings.

To Mika, she was an unforgivable witch—someone who’d betrayed her friends and nearly killed Seia twice.

If she couldn’t pin her pain on Saori, it would turn inward, destroying her completely.

“…”

But if I stepped aside, she’d become a murderer, just like the Mika from the Sensei-less timeline—a witch beyond redemption.

“…Mika,” I said softly, trying to calm her.

“Master said you’re not a witch.”

“What, you’re preaching now?” she snapped, her bloodshot eyes glaring, though Sensei’s mention seemed to stir something in her.

“I’m just telling you how I see you,” I said.

“Hah! What’s that? Some insult worse than ‘witch’ from the great hero?” she sneered.

“Fufu… how about ‘princess’?”

It was a term often tied to Misono Mika, influenced by my pre-Kivotos memories but fitting nonetheless.

“W-What…?”

I’d struck a nerve.

“What are you talking about?! How do you even think that? Are you the real lunatic?!” Her face flushed redder than when she’d screamed earlier.

“Oh my, you said it yourself last time. I thought it was pretty good self-awareness,” I said, reminding her of her mocking comment during the kidnapping incident.

“That’s…!” Realizing she’d said it, she glared, exasperated.

“So what, you think you’re my prince or something?”

“Not a bad ring to it. Think what you want, fufu,” I said, leaning into my shameless act.

“…”

Mika stared, dumbfounded, her halo’s flickering slowing noticeably.

It hadn’t returned to its bright pink, but it was far calmer than before.

Is she… calming down?

“…Outsider-chan,” she said, her swollen eyes meeting mine as I eased my grip.

“Thanks for being so kind to me… and…”

“Hmm?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“?!”

Before I could process her quiet words—

WHAM!

“Ugh?!”

A sharp pain hit my chest, and I was airborne.

Mika had kicked me upward in my moment of distraction, her sad eyes watching me.

“I get it, outsider-chan. You’re a good person—a real hero, unlike a villain like me.”

She grabbed her gun, turning to Saori, still pinned under the rubble, staring blankly.

“Waited long enough, Joumae Saori? Let’s end this,” Mika said, aiming at her head.

“…” Saori met her gaze calmly.

“So this is a villain’s end. I understand.”

What is she doing?!

I tried to lunge, but without wings like Mika, I couldn’t redirect mid-air.

“No!” I shouted, desperate.

But—

Step.

“It’s okay, Kaoru.”

“?!”

A familiar figure’s meaningful glance stopped me.

Sensei approached Mika slowly.

“…”

No bullet fired into Saori’s head.

“Why…?” Mika muttered, staring at her own finger, frozen on the trigger.

Step, step.

Sensei reached Mika, wrapping her in a gentle embrace.

“You did well, Mika,” she said, stroking her back with a warm smile.

“Sensei…?” Mika whispered.

“You gave Saori a chance. You’re no witch,” Sensei said, her smile as reassuring as her earlier glance to me.

“Why… why are you still…?” Mika mumbled, dazed, in her arms.

Hum.

Mika’s halo vibrated softly, no longer crackling.

Sensei, ever the mystic force for her students, smiled warmly.

“Now it’s your turn to get a chance, Mika.”

“Ah… ah…”

Thud.

Her gun fell to the ground, and her halo finally returned to its radiant pink.