The Strongest Sorcerer of Tomorrow (Megumi x Arknights)

Chapter 33: Shark out of Water + Operator Alter File Concept

A/N: Enjoy 21k words, I am TOO lazy to look through it for any problems, so help me out a bit if you discover any.

I'm sure there will be a lot, considering how tired I am rn.

***

Ch'en stared blankly into the horizon, as if gazing at something far—far beyond her reach. A million miles or a million kilometers, it didn't matter what the specific distance was, it was something her grasp could never reach through. Amongst the broken rubble of Lungmen that spanned a circular radius of hundreds of meters, the LGD Superintendent for once was at a loss of words.

The heat of battle was one hell of a motivator, letting her force any words or stupor she had back down. Nothing hampered her in this state, and the dragon lady believed it to be the same for practically everybody else who was a trained warrior.

A breeze went across Lungmen, the activity of multiple LGD relief branches making way across the city, attempting to find people that were crushed under the rubble. Ch'en didn't know if everybody had been evacuated, considering skyscrapers were high enough where the evacuation message could not have fully reached, or where people took too much time to get out of.

However, Mahoraga lifted those skyscrapers like nothing, and were tossing them towards the... whoever the black cloaked people were. It was an astonishing sight, and Ch'en felt like Lungmen was going to be razed to the ground the moment she laid eyes on it.

How did that even happen? Weren't skyscrapers designed to not be able to topple over, they were designed to collapse in themselves so they don't create a domino effect with other skyscrapers. By all means, picking the skyscrapers was an impossible feat by physics standards.

...On the topic of those black cloaked people, they were nowhere to be seen anymore. After the opening of that black sphere that appeared in the middle, and the subsequent burst of it—they had completely vanished from all view. Ch'en could only make assumptions of who they were, but only one echoed clearly.

Shaking her head, Ch'en sighed, breaking her gaze from the distance. The more she thought of that man, the more bitter she became. The LGD Superintendent had to admit to herself, she never understood him, not even a single hint of his motivations nor passions. Not through those soulless eyes of his, lacking any will to reside in this world.

Maybe that was why he had been so readily able to summon that monster, to let it loose upon Lungmen. Ch'en didn't know why he had summoned it in the first place, but she could only assume that something had happened when he went to clear out the criminal gathering.

The more she thought of it, the more she felt insignificant. There was nothing the woman could do to change his mind, could she? Was he even going to listen to a word she said? Maybe it was because he believed in the inadequacy of the LGD, maybe that was why he had decided to go to deal with the Blood Hounds alone.

Maybe that was why he left the city, seeing it as nothing but a danger to his livelihood.

Her hand moved upwards to pinch the bridge of her nose, exhaustion creeping into herself. Ch'en hadn't had a good run when fighting Mahoraga, and neither did she wish to ever see its blasted grin ever again. The mocking energy that came out of it, the sheer sadistry it exuded... honestly, she was sure she'd rather face down Ursus' rumored Royal Guards than that thing.

Replication of techniques, the capability of rendering anything useless against it. Blades were digging deep into its skin one time, and then they left nothing but a scratch. She used Chi Xiao's first technique against it, and it had thrown it back at her. Ch'en had to wonder how exactly Megumi was able to destroy it...