Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 5, Part 2

[Oldmansour]

>Straight up as in 'through the roof' and not 'up some stairs, probably'?
>About how far away from him are we?

>Straight up, most likely through whatever roof is above him.
>Between 45 and 50 feet and increasing.

[DracoOmega]

>Are there any accessible stairs up nearby?
>If not, let's keep going as we have been. Just because he's going through the roof doesn't mean we ought to.
>Though it is a little odd....

[Oldmansour]

>Are there any accessible stairs up nearby?
>If not, let's keep going as we have been. Just because he's going through the roof doesn't mean we ought to.
>Though it is a little odd....

>None within visual range.
>Curious as to what exactly Kenyu is up to, you finish cutting your way through the debris and lead the way through it, Hiyori bringing up the rear to maintain her spell.
>We have a problem. Kiku announces. According to Linia, Kenyu's building up energy for a large spell. Our guess is that he's preparing to blast the entire building.

[DracoOmega]

>The entire building?! Would he still have power enough left for that?
>Let's try to hurry this up, though. Borrow a little power from our allies if we need it. Certainly that would be a great target for Indigo Lotus, if we can catch him in the middle of it.

[Oldmansour]

>The entire building?! Would he still have power enough left for that?
>Let's try to hurry this up, though. Borrow a little power from our allies if we need it. Certainly that would be a great target for Indigo Lotus, if we can catch him in the middle of it.

>Linia believes so. She can sense his power level more accurately than I can.
>Now more anxious than ever, you and your three colleagues accelerate, three of you taking to the air and Reisen switching to her Glider Spectrum. The damage to her clothing persists between her costume changes but she still flies as fast as ever. As you speed up, Hiyori relays the same information you received from Chrysanthemum. "Lotus, can you use that Amber light of yours to cut us a path to Kenyu?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I can. Do you believe that better than attempting to follow the hole he presumably left in the roof himself?"

[Oldmansour]

>"I can. Do you believe that better than attempting to follow the hole he presumably left in the roof himself?"

>"Maybe. I suppose it depends on how fast your beam is, and how- Oh, never mind." she cuts herself off. As you turn around a corner, you can see the ragged hole in the roof Kenyu left behind him. There doesn't seem to be any form of barrier barring your way this time, but the hole isn't big enough to accommodate more than one of you at a time.
>Above, Kenyu's power stabilizes.

[DracoOmega]

>Stabilizes? Are we too late to interrupt him while he's channeling... whatever he's chanelling, then?
>Can we actually see Kenyu through this hole? Or at least, would we if we were underneath it?

[Oldmansour]

>Stabilizes? Are we too late to interrupt him while he's channeling... whatever he's chanelling, then?
>Can we actually see Kenyu through this hole? Or at least, would we if we were underneath it?

>Perhaps not. You can sense him using his Jewels, though not at you. Chrysanthemum and Linia have reached the Dawn Blood more quickly than you. They appear to be preventing him from building up more power.
>As you are not underneath it, it's hard to say. But you can see the glow of his aura shining down through the hole.

[DracoOmega]

>Oh, are Kiku and Linia already on the roof or something? Can we detect fighting?
>If so, let's make a break for the hole and see what we can see

[Oldmansour]

>Oh, are Kiku and Linia already on the roof or something? Can we detect fighting?
>If so, let's make a break for the hole and see what we can see

>Yes and yes.
>In the time it takes you to cover the distance between your starting point and the point directly below the hole, you detect a number of bursts of Jeweled power, but nothing of Kiku's. As you turn your head up to look up the hole, you see nothing but open sky and the ominous glow of Kenyu's Dawn Jewel's light.

[DracoOmega]

>Kiku seems down for the count, most likely?
>How much would it dilute the power of anything we'd shoot at him to go straight through the roof instead of flying up for an open shot?

[Oldmansour]

>Kiku seems down for the count, most likely?
>How much would it dilute the power of anything we'd shoot at him to go straight through the roof instead of flying up for an open shot?

>You assume so. If she was active, there's no doubt you'd sense her fighting.
>It depends on what you fire. Most of your spells would treat the roof as a solid object and be impeded by it. Your Amber Light however would cut through it while losing the least amount of energy, as it is the most effective at dispelling illusions, which for better or worse this building is. You'd still lose some effectiveness before it reached Kenyu, assuming you hit him, but not as much as with the other spells you have.

[DracoOmega]

>To Rin and Reisen: I think we go for the surprise shot over the clear shot. Are you with me?
>Assuming we're all in position and there is no disagreement, let's take aim at Kenyu's position and let loose with a combined Amber Lotus through the ceiling

[Oldmansour]

>To Rin and Reisen: I think we go for the surprise shot over the clear shot. Are you with me?
>Assuming we're all in position and there is no disagreement, let's take aim at Kenyu's position and let loose with a combined Amber Lotus through the ceiling

>Sounds good. Rin agrees.
>Best not to give him a clear shot at us. says Reisen.
>With the two youkai on board, you narrow your focus to give you the best shot. Sensing Kenyu is no trouble at all, but pinpointing his position isn't so easy. His power signature is so strong and broad, localizing it isn't simple. But your senses are sharp and your hand is steady. You might not even need to hit him dead on. He's badly damaged. Even a glancing blow from one of your triple techs might be enough to put him down.
>As the impression of the other Jewel disappears, you unleash your Amber light, augmented by Poppy and White Rose. The resulting blast is enormous in size and even stronger in intensity. When it passes, the relatively small hole above you has expanded to several tens of feet in diameter, the roof evaporated by your spell. Above you in the sky, you see a floating humanoid figure, but what catches your eye first is the sight of Chrysanthemum falling through the hole you just blasted.

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly throw out a Sapphire Lotus to catch her!
>And then space a glance at Kenyu. Did we... we didn't miss him with that, did we?

[Oldmansour]

>Quickly throw out a Sapphire Lotus to catch her!
>And then space a glance at Kenyu. Did we... we didn't miss him with that, did we?

>The falling youkai starts to right herself as you deploy your Sapphire light, neatly fielding the naked woman. She glances down at you. "Impressive shot."
>He's pretty high up there, and you can't discern if his clothes remain. Given the size of your blast, there's no way you could have missed him, not unless he has super speed. His power reading is still high, but from above, you hear him yell out, "Damn!" before his power begins to drop.

[DracoOmega]

>"Thanks."
>Does it seem that he's 'standing down' then, as it were? Be ready in case that's not the case.

[Oldmansour]

>"Thanks."
>Does it seem that he's 'standing down' then, as it were? Be ready in case that's not the case.

>You guess so. He's dropping down from the air as well, at a rather leisurely rate. "You got me, girls!" he hollers down at you. "Couldn't block that!"

[DracoOmega]

>Holler back: "Well fought! To you and all your compatriots!"

[Oldmansour]

>Holler back: "Well fought! To you and all your compatriots!"

>"Hey Haruka!" Kenyu yells, his amplified voice ringing out through the building. "Don't turn this thing off yet! Give my crew a minute to put our pants back on!"
>"And the rest of us, too." Chrysanthemum mutters.
>"Hear, hear." adds Hiyori.

[DracoOmega]

>Well, we at least can patch our own magical clothing up magically. So let's do that.

[Oldmansour]

>Well, we at least can patch our own magical clothing up magically. So let's do that.

>After bringing Kiku safely to ground, the four of you gathered together regenerate your outfits. "That's a very convenient ability." Hiyori remarks.
>"Bit strange, too." White Rose says, looking at Poppy as she changes back to her Saber Spectrum. "Shouldn't you clothes've been fixed when you changed?"
>"I suspect that's a function of this room." the rabbit replies. "Whatever magic it uses to simulate damage kept the damage to my clothing persistant."

[DracoOmega]

>"I'd deliberately refrained from patching minor damage during downtime in the exercise. It felt like it violated the spirit of the activity if the other team can't do likewise; real wounds are far less easy to dispel, after all."

[Oldmansour]

>"I'd deliberately refrained from patching minor damage during downtime in the exercise. It felt like it violated the spirit of the activity if the other team can't do likewise; real wounds are far less easy to dispel, after all."

>"Yeah, it does. I don't think there's a rule against that, but, I don't think we've ever had anyone here who could repair their clothes the way you can."
>"Not that you needed patching up as much as the rest of us, it appears." Kiku remarks.

[DracoOmega]

>"We were fortunate to be able to gather so many of us together in the same battle. Many of you didn't have that luxury."

[Oldmansour]

>"We were fortunate to be able to gather so many of us together in the same battle. Many of you didn't have that luxury."

>"Although that was probably necessary against Kenyu." says Poppy. "I had heard that the Dawn Jewel was on the same level as the Grey for the Blackbloods, and having fought the Dawn now, that reputation isn't exaggerated."
>Makes me really glad we caught the Stunts by surprise. Rin says to the four of you.
>May we be so fortunate the next time we meet a Blood Coven. Kiku says solemnly.
>"If you'll excuse me, ladies," Hiyori says after a moment, "I should probably get changed myself."

[DracoOmega]

>Nod
>"Of course."
>Likewise. Though I'd be just as happy if we could get through the next few months, at least, without doing so.

[Oldmansour]

>Nod
>"Of course."
>Likewise. Though I'd be just as happy if we could get through the next few months, at least, without doing so.

>I doubt we'll be that lucky. says Poppy as Hiyori departs. After what we did to the Stuntrons, some Blackblood is going to come after us to try and stop us from doing it again.
>You don't think they might be scared off instead? Rin asks.
>They'll come after us BECAUSE they're scared. I'd bet my bike on it.

[DracoOmega]

>You're probably right. One crisis at a time, though.