425 Coming Across the Bridge

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

"Looks like Fonzie is getting serious." Elicia said as she turned her head in the direction of the Takagi mansion.

Currently, Elicia was playing with the children at the primary school along with Takashi and Kohta while all those capable of cooking made dinner for everyone taking shelter in the primary school.

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked curiously.

"Look out the window in the direction of Saya's house, and you'll see." Elicia replied with a smile.

Instead of Takashi, it was Kohta who moved towards a window in the direction where Elicia turned to. And when he did, he was thoroughly confused.

"When did those clouds roll in?" Kohta asked in a dumbfounded tone. "It was completely clear only a few minutes ago."

"Clouds?" Takashi asked as he, too, stood up to look out the window. "Holy... What the...?"

Takashi's loud exclamation drew the attention of the children. His mother, Sayuri also came out of the kitchen to see what was the cause of the commotion.

"Takashi, why are you making so much noise?" Sayuri asked with a slight frown.

"It's because of that?" Takashi said while pointing his finger towards the storm clouds in the distance.

Deciding to take a look as well, Sayuri made her way over to the window Takashi was standing in front of. Then, when she finally saw what Takashi was pointing at, she frowned slightly.

"Such a sudden storm isn't a good omen." Sayuri murmured.

"This time it is." Elicia said with a smile as she stood up and started walking towards the school's front entrance. "For the people of this town, anyway. Not so much for the zombies, though."

"What do you mean?" Sayuri asked as she turned her head in Elicia's direction. "Uh... And where are you going?"

"To help Fonzie." Elicia replied as she reached the door. "Although he probably doesn't need my help, it will be faster if I go."

"But it's about to storm." Sayuri said in a concerned tone.

"I'll be fine." Elicia said as she pulled the door open, walked through it, and closed it behind her.

"I really don't think you have to worry, Mrs. Komuro." Kohta said as he returned to playing with the children. "Before any of us noticed the storm clouds, she said something about Alfonzo getting serious. So, those clouds are probably his doing."

"But how is that possi---" Sayuri began to ask.

*Rumble!*

Before she could finish, however, a flash lit up the surroundings, followed by the sound of thunder. However, it did not take long for the lightning to strike for a second, a third, and even more times. In fact, it struck so many times and in such close succession that it was impossible to see or hear anything for nearly a minute.

By the time the onslaught of lightning ended, the younger children were screaming in either fear or excitement, while the older children and adults were covering their ears and closing their eyes.

"Well, now I know what she meant..." Kohta muttered.

Meanwhile, Elicia was making her way towards the Takagi mansion to offer her assistance. However, she did not go there in a straight line. Instead, she made a quick detour to intercept all the zombies who were drawn in that direction by the rumbles of thunder.

"Wow! There are at least fifteen magically enhanced zombies heading that way." Elicia said in an amazed tone. "There were already around seventy in the original horde."

["Does that mean you're gonna put on a show like Fonzie?"] Scylla asked, the smile on her face audible from her tone.

"Might as well." Elicia replied as she flared her magic power. "Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]."

With that, the wristband on Elicia's left wrist began to glow before covering her hands and transforming into golden scales. On top of that, with the surge in her magic power, Elicia's speed tripled.

Then, after about thirty seconds, Elicia found the first magically enhanced zombie.

"[Cross Stitching]." Elicia chanted as she shot one of the dragon scales on her right hand at the zombie.

Mid-flight, the dragon scale transformed into a golden needle with a dragon motif. Then, the eye of the needle was threaded by one of Elicia's threads. A moment later, it pierced through the zombies upper lip before stitching its mouth closed.

"There, now we don't have to worry about it biting anyone." Elicia said.

["Yeah, but don't their scratches transmit the curse, too?"] Scylla asked.

"You're right." Elicia replied.

By now, the zombie, while not reacting to having its mouth stitched shut, turned in Elicia's direction thanks to the fact that she had not lowered her voice while speaking to Scylla. Then, at a speed comparable to Elicia's base speed, it dashed at her with its arms outstretched.

"I guess I should do something about that, too, huh?" Elicia said as she ejected threads from the tips of her fingers.

In the next instant, before the zombie could get into striking range, the threads looped around its wrists.

"[Thread Magic: Thread Guillotine]." Elicia said as she constricted the threads around the zombie's wrists.

*Swish!*

Once again not noticing the state of its body, the zombie's hands fell off. Then, it swung its stumps at Elicia in an attempt to scratch her.

"Eww!" Elicia exclaimed as she frantically dodged the blood spraying from the zombie's wrists. "In hindsight, that was a really bad idea."

["Yeah, I thought you would stitch its fingertips to its palms."] Scylla replied.

While continuing to avoid the spraying blood, Elicia opened her eyes wide at Scylla's reply.

"I didn't think about that." Elicia said in an enlightened tone.

["You didn't think?"] Scylla replied in an exasperated tone. ["Why doesn't that surprise me?"]

"You don't have to be so mean about it, Scylla." Elicia replied with a pout.

["I'll be nicer when you start thinking about your words and actions."] Scylla replied mercilessly.

Instead of replying, Elicia continued to pout as she yanked the fingers of her left hand.

"[Thread Magic: thread Slicer]." Elicia chanted.

A moment later, all the threads Elicia released while she was dodging the rotten, spraying blood came flying towards the zombie. Then, with little resistance, they mince the zombie into small pieces of flesh and bone fragments.

"Alright, the rest should be coming this way soon." Elicia said as she stood in the middle of the street. "Looks like this group was drawn away from the bridge."

["That should take a lot of pressure off the knights defending the shelter on the other side of the bridge, then."] Scylla said. ["I wonder if that's where Rika was stationed. I mean, there's no airport to defend in this town."]

"Who knows." Elicia replied. "But maybe I should start working my way in that direction instead of waiting for them to come to me. Then, I might get to meet her."

["That's actually a pretty well thought out plan coming from you."] Scylla replied in a tone that made it clear she was smirking.

Once again, Elicia could only pout at her [Armament Spirit]. However, that did not slow her down or change her decision. So, like a whirlpool of threads and needles, Elicia dashed down the street while lashing her threaded golden needles around her.

At the same time, the knights guarding the shelter on the other side of the bridge were watching the zombies in the area start moving towards the lightning storm in the distance.

"Does anyone have an idea what's going on over there?" A middle-aged man with black eyes and hair, greying at his temples, asked.

"It's probably magic, Captain Miyamoto." A young knight replied.

"I'm aware." The middle-aged man, Tadashi Miyamoto, replied in an irritated tone. "The question is who could have used a spell that powerful? There shouldn't be anyone in this town with that much power."

In response, all the knights stationed at the shelter could only exchange unsure glances.

"Well, if no one is sure, I think we should go and find out." A tan-skinned woman standing at around 5'7" with shoulder-length purple hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a light armored chest plate, that did not cover her midriff, revealing her stomach and a small part of a white crop top, and a pair of dark shooting glasses covering her red eyes suggested. "And I volunteer to make the trip."

As she spoke the last part, The purple-haired woman leaned the large caliber magic rifle in her hands on her right shoulder.

"*Sigh* Of course you do." Tadashi said in an exasperated tone. "However, you're right this time, Chief Minami. But I can't send you alone."

Hearing that, Chief Rika Minami smiled happily. Meanwhile, the other knights focused their attention on Tadashi to see who would be accompanying her on his potentially suicidal mission.

'Good.' Rika thought as she waited to see who her teammates on this mission would be. 'If I'm lucky, I'll even get to check on Shizuka while I'm on the other side of the bridge, too. I wonder if she went to stay at my place after all this shit started.'

With that thought, Rika slung the rifle she was holding onto her back. Then, she reached into the pocket of her pants' pocket  and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, pulled a cigarette out of the pack, and lit it by making a small spark with her magic power.

'*Sigh* There's no better reason to learn just a little fire magic than this.' Rika thought as she inhaled the smoke from her cigarette.

"Crawford, Sato, and Tendo, you will be going with Minami on this investigation mission." Tadashi said after finally deciding on the team assignment. "The rest of you will be staying here to continue guarding the shelter."

"Sir!" All the knights shouted while saluting.

"Now, get your gear and take one of the Humvees." Tadashi ordered. "Dismissed."

"Sir!" Rika, Crawford, Sato, and Tendo replied in unison.

A moment later, Crawford, Sato, and tendo ran off to get geared up. Meanwhile, Rika, who was always carrying a sniper rifle, a shotgun, and a pair of pistols, looked at Tadashi.

"We'll check for news about your wife and daughter while we're on the other side, Captain." Rika said as she turned around to head to the magic vehicles.

"I appreciate it." Tadashi replied with a light smile. "But don't put yourselves in any extra danger because of that."

Waving over her shoulder while taking another drag from her cigarette, Rika kept walking towards the magic vehicles.

"Don't worry, I'll keep those boys safe." Rika said. "I don't like unnecessary risks, you know. On top of that, comrades don't die on my watch."

Nodding in understanding, Tadashi saluted at Rika's back.

A few minutes later, with Sato driving the Humvee, Rika, Crawford, and Tendo were on their way across the bridge.

"Even though we don't' know who cast that lightning spell, it really helped us out, didn't it?" Sato asked from behind the wheel. "I mean, all the noise basically pulled all the zombies in one direction."

"Yeah, but the guys back at the shelter might have a hard time dealing with all those things trying to get to the bridge, though." Tendo replied in a slightly concerned tone.

"Don't worry about them, Captain Miyamoto will keep them in top form." Rika said after blowing a cloud of smoke out of the window in the backseat.

"Hey! What is that?" Crawford asked from his spot on the opposite side of the back seat while pointing out the window.

With Crawford's exclamation, Rika and Tendo turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

"Is that… a wall?" Tendo asked while squinting at the massive black object down the river.

"Stop for a minute, Sato." Rika ordered as she gripped her sniper rifle.

With that, Sato slowly brought the vehicle to a stop Then, Rika stood up, opened the hatch on the roof, and looked down the river through the scope of her rifle.

"It really is a wall." Rika muttered. Though, it was loud enough for the other three knights to hear. Then, as Rika turned around to look in the opposite direction, she continued. "I wonder if… Yup, there's a wall on the other side, too."

"Where the hell did that wall come from?" Sato asked with a frown on his face.

"More importantly, did whoever cast this ritual put up walls to keep anyone from escaping?" Crawford asked.

"Or did someone raise walls to keep the undead from spreading?" Tendo asked.

"*Sigh* We'll have to find out once this mess is over." Rika replied while closing the hatch as she sat back in her seat. "For now, let's keep going."

"Ma'am!" Sato replied as he stepped on the accelerator once again.

Not long later, the Humvee began approaching the zombies who were heading for the Takagi mansion. Although Alfonzo had ended the [Thunderstorm] spell when all the S-Class enhanced zombies were destroyed, many of his spells still utilized lightning and electricity. And to keep as many zombies heading towards their location as possible, he did not lower the volume on any of the bolts.

"Ma'am, we've caught up to the horde." Sato said. "What should we do?"

"Just keep following them." Rika said, once again standing up in the back seat and opening the hatch. "I'll clean up as many as I can while we're moving."

"Understood." Sato replied while matching the speed of the back row of zombies.

"Alright, just like shooting ducks n a barrel." Rika said as she held the magazine to her sniper rifle. "[Bullet-Make: Spread Shot]."

In the next instant, a bullet appeared in the chamber of her rifle. Meanwhile, four more appeared in the magazine in her hand. Then, she took aim at the zombies in front of her.

"[Target Magic: Multiscope]." Rika chanted as she looked through her rifle's scope and aimed at five running zombies.

*Bang!*

Then, once her aim was locked on the heads of the five zombies, Rika pulled the trigger. In the next instant, the bullet flew out of the rifle's barrel. Then, while mid-flight, it split into five needlelike shells, with each needle piercing through the back of the targeted zombie's heads.

"*Sigh* Seeing the Chief work never gets old." Tendo said while he watched the five zombies lose momentum and slide forward after falling.

"Yeah, she's got to be one of the top five shots in the knights." Sato replied.

"And that's why there have never been any rumors of men getting into the Chief's bed." Crawford said with a chuckle.

"Damn right!" Rika shouted as she lined up her next shot. "If a man can't even out shoot me, there's no way in hell he's getting into my pants."

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

As she spoke, Rika emptied the remaining rounds in the magazine. However, just as she was about to create more ammo with her [Bullet-Make Magic], she noticed that the number of zombies in front of the Humvee was reducing with no input from her.

'Damn, are there a bunch of those strong ones devouring the weaker ones while they run?' Rika asked herself as she hurriedly created more powerful ammo. 'The [Spread Shot] shells won't be enough for those.'

"[Bullet-Make: Inferno Shot]." Rika chanted before loading her rifle once again.

However, when she looked through her scope once again, Rika was thoroughly surprised.

*Bang!*

"Hey, Sato, stop!" Rika shouted after pulling the trigger and causing a B-Class zombi to be engulfed by intense flames.

Following the order, Sato brought the Humvee to a stop once again.

"What's wrong, Chief?" Sato asked in confusion.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

"Someone is ripping straight through that horde in front of us." Rika said as she took aim at four more magically enhanced zombies with her [Multiscope] spell and pulled the trigger four times in succession. "And I don't want you to run into them by mistake."

'Otherwise, if the way those zombies are getting minced up, we wouldn't survive the collision.' Rika thought to herself. 'But still, I didn't think anyone from outside the town would be here. But I guess she's not bad back up. And I'd bet my next month's salary that I know who cast that lightning storm now after seeing her.'

Naturally, the one Rika saw ripping through the horde was Elicia. So, instead of speeding forward, Rika continued picking off zombies while Elicia approached. Eventually, once the entire horde was dealt with, Elicia approached the Humvee.

 "Wow, you might even be a better shot than Bisca." Elicia said with a smile as she walked up to the passenger side of the Humvee and looked up at Rika, who was still sticking out the hatch on the roof.

"That sounds like a challenge, Magic Seamstress." Rika replied with a smile after blowing out a cloud of smoke. "I might have to make a trip to Magnolia to see just how good a shot this Bisca is."

"I think you should, Miss Minami." Elicia replied with a smile.

"Oh, you know who I am?" Rika asked as she raised her shooting glasses.

"Yeah, Shizuka talks about you a lot." Elicia replied with a nod. "A tall, tan-skinned, purple-haired knight with big boobs, though not as big as hers, and a good, really good, shot."

"You met Shizuka?" Rika asked, her tone rising in both anticipation and worry. "How is she?"

"You don't have to worry, she's fine." Elicia replied. "Anyway, if you're willing to give me a ride to Takagi mansion, I don't mind telling you what she's been up to on the way."

"Sure, climb in." Rika replied in a carefree, yet somewhat excited tone as she dropped back into the Humvee and closed the hatch. Then, she opened the door on the passenger side of the vehicle as she continued. "By the way, do you know who cast that lightning spell earlier?"

"Yeah, that was my husband." Elicia said while smiling proudly.

"That's what I thought after seeing you here." Rika said as she scooted towards the middle of the back seat and Elicia climbed in. "Anyway, tell me about Shizuka."

With that, Elicia closed the door. Then, Sato started driving once again as Elicia talked to Rika about Shizuka and everything she had been up to since Alfonzo and Elicia arrived in town.