It was roughly three hours after he’d parted ways with Mina that Arc finally emerged from the underground, the black cat in tow.

  He had used his gravity magic to hold back the collapsing ceiling, parting the floating boulders like curtains as he navigated his way through the crumbling passages.

  Once above ground, Arc released his polar bear form. Back in his human shape, he stepped out from behind the cat rock and surveyed the clearing.

  “Mina! …Hey! Mina!”

  He looked in every direction, but she was nowhere to be found.

  A sickening dread settled in his chest.

  When he examined the clearing more closely, he found not only the traces of earth magic practice but also the scorch marks of several powerful lightning blasts. The color drained from his face.

  “Don’t tell me the angels came…”

  Arc walked to the edge of the clearing and shouted toward the forest.

  “Hey! Mina! If you’re nearby, answer me!”

  He called out again and again, but there was no reply.

  He wanted nothing more than to go searching for Mina immediately, but he also had the unconscious black cat to deal with.

  “Damn it—what am I supposed to do?”

  Arc bit his lip.

  ◆

  Meanwhile, Canconel was elated.

  He had found Mina.

  “At last!”

  He immediately sent a telepathic report to Seraphim. The reply came back swiftly: capture her alive, without fail.

  After cutting the mental link, his three subordinates hurried over.

  “Lord Canconel… what did Lord Seraphim say?”

  Canconel let out a heavy sigh, then looked at the three of them.

  “He says we must bring her back alive, no matter what.”

  These three angels had served under Canconel for many years. Their names were Rakiel, Griel, and Fezael. Like their master, they all specialized in wind magic.

  Griel, who acted as the group’s field leader, spoke up.

  “Lord Canconel… it appears the girl is alone.”

  “She’s been separated from the familiar?”

  “It would seem so. Lord Canconel, we cannot let this opportunity slip away!”

  As Canconel and Griel exchanged knowing grins, Isarfe interjected.

  “I’m sure someone of Lord Griel’s caliber wouldn’t consider a mere familiar to be a real threat… but still, it’s better that it’s not around.”

  Griel shot Isarfe a glare.

  Something about the non-combatant’s words grated on him, though he couldn’t quite say why.

  “Isarfe! What’s that supposed to mean?! You make it sound like we three couldn’t handle one familiar!”

  Isarfe laughed it off with a carefree grin.

  “You jest! I merely said it’s fortunate the familiar isn’t here. It saves you an unnecessary fight, that’s all.”

  Watching Isarfe’s easygoing manner, Griel felt an urge to prove himself.

  “…Lord Canconel, while the familiar is absent, allow the three of us to capture the girl.”

  Fezael stepped forward as well.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “We’ll bring her in unharmed, just as Lord Seraphim wishes.”

  Canconel stroked his chin and nodded.

  “Well, it’s just the girl on her own. The three of you should be more than enough. But don’t let your guard down. Human or not, she’s Lilia’s daughter. There’s no telling what hidden powers she might have.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Good—go. And if the situation calls for it, taking a hand or foot is acceptable!”

  “Yes, my lord!”

  Canconel waved them off with a flick of his hand.

  The three angels bared predatory grins—like feral mountain dogs—and took off running through the forest. As they ran, Rakiel barked orders to the other two.

  “Listen up, Griel, Fezael! I’ll approach the girl head-on! You two flank her from the left and right!”

  “Got it!”

  The three spread their wings and took to the air. Like hawks weaving between the trees, they closed in on Mina in an instant.

  ◆

  Mina was lost in the forest and on the verge of tears.

  “Seriously, where even am I?!”

  She’d been chased by the giant boar, running in blind panic through the trees.

  Fortunately, Mina—natural-born earth magic prodigy that she was—had managed to stop the boar’s charge with an Earth Wall.

  Since the boar could only run in a straight line, it had slammed headfirst into the wall of earth and knocked itself out cold.

  “Great, I beat the boar… but I have no idea where I am.”

  Every direction in a forest looks the same, after all.

  There was simply no way to figure out which way led back.

  “Ugh, what do I do? Arc’s going to kill me.”

  A gloomy mood was settling over her.

  Then it happened.

  That awful sensation struck again.

  The collar—it was tightening.

  “Aaagh! Not again!”

  Mina dropped to her knees and curled up.

  “Seriously, just stop!”

  Her face went pale as she endured the constriction, waiting for it to pass.

  After a while the pressure eased, but it had sapped what little stamina she had left.

  “I can’t take this anymore… Arc, come get me…”

  She had no energy left to walk. Mina found a rock large enough to sit on and collapsed onto it.

  “Haah… I’m exhausted.”

  She looked up at the sky.

  Through the gaps in the canopy, she could see a sliver of blue.

  “I wonder if Arc’s out of the shrine by now…”

  She gazed upward, lost in thought.

  All she could hear was birdsong and the rustle of leaves.

  Before she knew it, she’d been sitting there in a daze for about thirty minutes.

  “Oh no—I need to start looking for a way back!”

  Her body was spent, but she couldn’t afford to be stuck in the forest after dark. With that thought, she forced herself to her feet.

  That was when she saw it.

  Far ahead, something was flying toward her.

  It was white. It had wings. A bird?

  She was staring vacantly when the bird grew steadily larger.

  “Hm? Wait—is it heading straight for me??”

  The moment she realized it was far bigger than any bird, Mina jumped to her feet, ready to run.

  “Wh-wh-wh-whoa!”

  And then it clicked.

  “That’s an angel!”

  Mina cast earth magic to block his charge.

  “Please—stop him! Earth Wall!”

  A wall of earth erupted from the ground in an instant, hiding the approaching angel from view.

  Mina stared at the wall, praying. One… two… three seconds—

  BOOM! The wall exploded into dust, and a muscular angel burst through, landing right in front of her.

  “Eeeek! Who are you?!”

  “Me? My name is Rakiel! You’re Mina, aren’t you? You’re coming with me!”

  “N-no way!”

  Mina manipulated the terrain with her earth magic, opening a massive hole directly beneath Rakiel’s feet.

  “Waaaagh! You little—!”

  Rakiel plummeted into the sudden pit. Mina glanced down at him as he fell, then immediately bolted away from the edge.

  “Now’s my chance!”

  She sprinted into the forest.

  But from behind her came a deep voice: “MINAAA!”

  She looked back. It was Rakiel.

  “Wha— How?! You didn’t fall?!”

  “Are you stupid?! I have angel wings!”

  “Oh—right, I forgot!”

  At that moment, both her arms were seized from behind.

  Mina whipped around to find two angels gripping her arms from either side.

  “Who are you people?! Let go of me!”

  “Quiet—you’re coming with us!”

  “No! Let me go!”

  Rakiel descended in front of Mina and smirked.

  “Griel, Fezael—just as planned!”

  “Piece of cake, really.”

  “Ha ha ha!”

  Mina bristled.

  “What do you mean, ‘just as planned’?! You’re really ticking me off! In that case—”

  The angels snorted with contempt.

  “In that case… what exactly are you going to do?”

  Mina glared at Griel, who was pinning her arm.

  “This!”

  In that instant, dozens of earth lances shot up from beneath the three angels’ feet, aimed to skewer them. Mina’s Earth Lances erupted from the ground like bamboo shoots after rain.

  “Whoa—!”

  “Ow ow ow!”

  The lances were made of earth, but their tips were honed to lethal points—as sharp as any blade.

  All three angels were forced to spread their wings and take to the air.

  “You’re not getting away! Earth Lance—extend!”

  At Mina’s command, the angels shot higher into the sky.

  She tried to push the lances upward to reach them, but they only stretched about ten meters before stopping. She looked up to see the three angels hovering above, flapping their wings and grinning down at her.

  “D-did that not work?”

  Rakiel smirked.

  “Fool! Did you really think beginner magic would work against upper-rank angels?!”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “Besides—your earth lances can’t reach us up here!”

  Of course. Earth lances couldn’t leave the ground.

  “A cheeky little brat like you needs to be taught a lesson.”

  “What?! Hey, stop! That was just a joke!”

  But the angels had already begun chanting their spells. Mina panicked and shouted at the top of her lungs.

  “You can’t do that to a girl!”

  The angels didn’t stop.

  “Cut it out! I said stop! STOP! NOOO!”

  The angels unleashed blades of wind from the air.

  Crescent-shaped wind blades the size of forearms came hissing toward her.

  Mina remembered the wind magic she’d seen at the ruins—the one that had sliced those demons to ribbons.

  “No, no! I surrender! I surrender! I give up, okay?!”

  The wind blades sheared through the surrounding trees, felling them like kindling.

  “These are nothing like the angels I know!”

  Mina fled deeper into the forest, running for her life.