Chapter 4-12 : Anti-Magic Burst (part 2)

After about ten minutes of flying on the carpet, they arrived at the pond and landed under the trees nearby.

After confirming that Chloe had her feet on the ground, Mylia put the carpet back into her magic bag.

「What a quiet yet lovely forest…」(Chloe)

Chloe muttered to herself as she looked around her surroundings.

The beautiful sight of sunlight filtering through trees, the large pond with clean water, and the scent of flowers blooming nearby. It was indeed a lovely forest.

The ground felt soft due to the thick moss growing on it, but it didn’t bother the two.

This forest had a tranquil atmosphere that made you want to call it a sanctuary.

「Onee-chan, what are we going to do now? Should we wait for griffons to come here?」(Mylia)

「Yeah, I think we should just wait.」(Chloe)

「Alright.」(Mylia)

「Mylia, can you look for a place where we can hide? It would be great if we can be sheltered from the wind so that the griffons can’t detect us by smell. In the meantime, I want to check the water quality of the pond to learn more about griffons’ habitat.」(Chloe)

「Roger that!」(Mylia)

After replying cheerfully to Chloe, Mylia looked around, searching for a nice place where they could hide and avoid the wind at the same time.

（Let’s see….. Ah, maybe we can hide in the thick bushes over there. I’m not that good at this spell, but I think I can use Stealth Magic to conceal our presence a little.）

「Onee-chan, I found a good plaー O, Onee-chan!!」(Mylia)

When Mylia turned to Chloe and was about to report to her, a huge shadow covered Chloe while she was trying to check the water quality by drawing it from the pond with her hands.

「ーー!!」(Chloe)

As soon as she realized that there was something big flying above her head, she raised her face and saw it with her eyes wide open.

It was a creature with the head and the pair of wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

It silently landed on the ground and glared at Chloe with its obsidian-like eyes.

（I, It’s a griffon…!!）

「Onee-chan!」(Mylia)

Mylia tried to get closer to Chloe, but Chloe stretched her hand backward, telling Mylia to back off.

「Mylia, please be quiet. I’m going to try to approach it and make physical contact with it…」(Chloe)

「Eh? But it’s too dangerous!」(Mylia)

「Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You have cast protection spells on me, remember?」(Chloe)

「That’s true, but…」(Mylia)

「Mylia, this is a good chance to make contact with a griffon. I don’t want to waste it.」(Chloe)

「A, Alright…」(Mylia)

Mylia knew that her spells would protect her sister, but she still worried somehow.

On the other hand, Chloe looked somewhat confident. She spread her arms, bent her body a little, and slowly walked along the bank, approaching the griffon.

Seeing a human approaching, the griffon opened its sharp-looking beak wide, trying to scare Chloe.

However, Chloe didn’t give up. She lowered her head even more and kept walking slowly toward the griffon.

（Griffons are magical creatures, right? I think I should find out how much magical power they have.）

In the meantime, Mylia gathered her magical power in her eyes and started observing the griffon from a distance.

She could see a large amount of magical power circulating inside the griffon’s body.

（I see… Now I understand why Master said they’re strong…）

As Chloe got closer and closer to the griffon, Mylia noticed something weird.

（Hm? Why is its magical power starting to gather in its wings? Does it want to fly away from Onee-chan?）

Mylia noticed that the griffon’s wings were glowing brighter as Chloe got closer.

（No, wait… I doubt this creature needs magical power just to fly since it has huge wings… Could it be… It’s trying to attack Onee-chan!?）

At the same time as Mylia realized it, the griffon quickly flapped its wings once, firing the concentrated magical power from its wings.

As a thunderous roaring sound was heard, the magical power turned into a huge magical bullet and went straight at Chloe.

「ONEE-CHAN!!! Wind Blade!!」(Mylia)

Mylia tried to protect Chloe by shooting a Wind Blade at the magical bullet, but she didn’t make it in time and missed her shot.

The magical bullet kept flying across the pond causing the water in the pond to splash.

「Kyaa!!」(Chloe)

Knowing that there was nothing she could do to avoid the bullet, Chloe spontaneously closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

However, right before the magical bullet hit her, a magical barrier with a honeycomb pattern in it appeared. It blocked the magical bullet and turned it into thin air while making a noise that was like the sound of glass shattering.

（OHH!! The barrier function of my Anti-Magic Burst activated! Very nice!）

Mylia was relieved after confirming that her spell worked as expected. She relaxed her shoulders and exhaled.

「…..? Eh…?」(Chloe)

Chloe slowly opened her eyes and saw the honeycomb-like magical barrier in front of her.

Learning that Mylia’s spells had really protected her from danger, Chloe put her hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief.

However, the magical barrier suddenly turned brighter.

Thinking that something was about to come, the griffon folded its wings back and went on alert.

「M, Mylia, why is your barrier glowing? What should I do now?」(Chloe)

「It’s a counterattack-type defensive spell, so the barrier will automatically counter the attack soon.」(Mylia)

「Eh!? But I don’t want to harm the griffon!」(Chloe)

「But that bird attacked you first!」(Mylia)

Chloe had no intention of harming the griffon, but Mylia was angry with the bird.

（How dare this bird attack my precious onee-chan! She would have been badly injured if I didn’t cast protection spells on her beforehand!）

The barrier of Mylia’s Anti-Magic Burst that had completely absorbed the energy of the griffon’s magical bullet glowed stronger as a sound like glass shards rubbing against each other was heard.

Even Chloe, who couldn’t use magic, was able to feel the huge energy from it.

「Mylia, can you stop it? Please!」(Chloe)

「I, I can’t! It’s automatic!」(Mylia)

Feeling the huge energy from the honeycomb barrier, the griffon stepped backward. It looked afraid somehow.

「KAAAHHH!!」(griffon)

The bird then shouted and spread its wings, trying to escape.

「W, Wait!!」(Chloe)

When Chloe reached out her hand, a high-pitched sound was heard and the Anti-Magic Burst spell began the counterattack.

Because the magical bullet fired by the griffon was of the wind attribute, the barrier released its counter which was earth-attributed magic bullets in the form of rocks.

Countless rocks that were about the size of basketballs were shot from the barrier like a gatling gun.

DO DO DO DO DO DOー！！！

「KAAAAHH KAAHH!!」(griffon)

Not only did the rocks hit the griffon, but they also hit the pond and the surrounding trees.

「…..!!」(Chloe)

Chloe was dumbfounded by the power of the counterattack.

After a few seconds, the barrier stopped shooting rocks and disappeared.

A thick cloud of smoke was covering the surroundings, making it impossible to see the situation on the other side of the pond.

「Mylia… I think this spell is too powerful…」(Chloe)

「Y, Yeah… I think so too…」(Mylia)

（Uwahh… I’ve never thought it would be this destructive… It was a counterattack but it looked like an all-out attack… I should be careful the next time I use this spell…）

Even the inventor of the spell herself underestimated the power of Anti-Magic Burst.

（A, Anyway, I should get rid of this smoke.）

Mylia swung her hand horizontally and used wind magic to blow away the cloud of smoke so that they could see the surroundings clearly.

「Oh, no…」(Mylia)

「This is terrible…」(Chloe)

Mylia wanted to punish the griffon for trying to hurt Chloe, but she had no intention of going this far.

She had never thought that the beautiful pond, the colony of flowers growing nearby, and the surrounding trees would be destroyed by her spell.

In the center of the damaged area was the griffon lying down on the ground.

Seeing the horrible condition of the griffon, Chloe hurriedly approached it and kneeled in front of it.

「Oh… What a poor creature…」(Chloe)

「…….」(Mylia)

Mylia was angry with the griffon, but she felt a bit remorseful after seeing its condition.

However, just when they thought that the griffon was dead, it twitched a few times and moved its head.

「I, It’s still alive! Thank goodness!」(Chloe)

「Whoa…」(Mylia)

（As expected from one of the strongest magical creatures… It still can move after receiving such a powerful counter-attack…）

The griffon shook its head slowly, stood up, and glared at Chloe.

「Onee-chan, watch out!」(Mylia)

Mylia then quickly stretched her arm sideways, trying to protect Chloe.

However, the griffon no longer had the intention of attacking Chloe. Instead, it lowered its head and kneeled before her.

「…Eh?」(Chloe)

「Hmm…?」(Mylia)

Mylia and Chloe were confused. They looked at each other and tilted their heads at the same time.

（Could it be… This bird has completely surrendered to Onee-chan and submitted itself to her!? ）