*
"Ahhh!!!??? Who the hell are you? Fire!" (?)
Wielding his blade, he jumps to the right and slices the few that comes his way. With these foes, he could use minimal magical energy from the sword as he didn't need to power himself up that much. He could stay weaker than an E grade and get the job done.
He landed in the middle of a dark room by destroying the roof tiles, the light blinded the cultist before he sliced down a couple of them. Upon what seemed to be the leader's screams, pitch black bullets flew toward him from under the veil of darkness. He would have missed them if the enemy didn't foolishly shout out 'fire!'
But they could have just been using the bullets and himself as decoy. He activates a bit more of his power at once, side stepping a few metres away. On his way to stepping aside, he saw a few shadows at the corner of his eyes so he cut them up with the tip of his blade. It turns out that they had plenty of security even in this deep inside the branch, especially ones that concealed themselves in the dark.
His eyes adjusted to the lack of light at a fast pace, eventually he could even see more clearly than they could. Raising his arm, he blocks the next volley of bullets. Some of those were blood bullets, formed from witchcraft. They are lethal in that they inscribe curses and other magic inside the target's body upon collision, but they were also slightly slower than actual bullets. He blocks them with ease but a few real bullets managed to get through and grazed a hole through his skin.
Another takes advantage of their allies' cover fire and gets close with a long spear. From the looks of it, their shoulders and biceps and legs were muscular and that they reached there with their own physical prowess rather than magic. Unlike magic which his body is able to instinctively resist with something akin to a magical girl's natural magic defense, a physical weapon like a real metal spear was far more dangerous.
Using the spear's longer reach, the opponent swings with a practices arm, the air shakes under his strength and the wind whistles around its approach. He holds up the scabbard to block it, but all of its force is transmitted into his arm and ends up at his shoulder joint.
"GAAAAHH!!!" (Harald)
This was both an attempt to get his name out there in the underworld, as well as a training session. His breathing goes faster but his eyes are trained onto his enemies. He continues to block the bullets with his blade on one arm and watches the spearman's next move. It could certainly be possible to have a person train to the point that they could hurt his shoulder like that without magic, but was it really?
If it wasn't... He would be in a worse place. There could potentially be more witches, he was expecting at least 3. But now he doesn't know which ones are normal humans and which ones aren't. He has to adapt... That's it. Just like his battle with the crane, his sole shining light in the darkness of the tunnel ahead...
He picks up one of the corpses he cut up up and blocks everything with it, then he charges the spearman.
"Bad mistake." (Spearman)
He fires the spear with an arm thrust like a ballista, he was a witch after all, his spear slid cleanly through the corpse and had an auto aiming function. It sliced through the corpses heart and then Harald's lung. This time he was too busy holding up the corpse... He didn't have a free hand to hold the scabbard... But his other hand had been holding his sword tightly all this time! So obviously he needed to train his swordsmanship!
He uses up more energy from his weapon, gritting his teeth through his perforated lung and lunging his sword arm at his enemy. He aims for the neck, hoping to pierce through a soft part of it with minimal strength. He could feel his body significantly weaken after his lung was pierced and his blood pooled into his air sacs... He slices too low and it pierces the spearman's carotid artery. The extra strength used on a normal human... His minimal strength managed to effectively cut open a vital part of his opponent's body.
He was relying too much on his magic, it frustrates himself even more so. If he was to fight a stronger opponent, how would he pull through? If he relies solely on his strength, he would never be able to breach his limits again. He may not even be able to defeat a magical girl with the same amount of strength as himself... Which is the norm.
Who could say that with equal training and equal muscle... Equal magic, that one could confidently claim that they will pull through and win? It takes a determination and self assessment beyond effort, one that takes into factor luck, environment, mindset and destiny. If they want to best someone stronger than themselves... They need to have the confidence to overturn fate.
"Tch, we lost Grendal. Warn the next branch, a swordsman with powerful regenerative powerful and forged muscles." (Gunman)
Another volley of blood bullets and real bullets strike at his body. Now that his body has powered up, they affect him proportionately differently. His body becomes hard enough to fend off normal bullets with no problem, his skin becomes too tough for the shells to pierce. But the magic bullets that spread curses become much stronger, they melt away at his magical defenses, making his body more vulnerable to being corroded on the inside.
It was similar to how Kaori killed Ray.
"Ghhh!!!" (Harald)
He grits his teeth and glares at the witch sending those bullets. The biggest different between a magical girl and a witch is not only the vast chasm of a gap in ability, but also regenerative ability. Due to a magical girl's endurance stat, their body becomes many times as tough and as regenerative as a human being's. Meaning that when a C grade magical gilr has C grade endurance that means their body regenerate 800 times faster and with 800 times more potency in the same amount of time.
"Tch, even if they're slower bullets, they should be able camouflage and hit explosively enough to split steel. Even the damn crane doesn't stand a chance from its barrage..." (Gunman)
"... Huh, so the crane is weak against magic energy attacks that overpower physicality... Too bad, all I have are physical attacks. "(Harald)
He leaps forward, dashing over the spearman's corpse, his vision rushes by and he avoids taking another breath. In that single moment only the gunman laid in his sight...
" Don't underestimate me... Every branch is prepared to take on a magical girl... Much less a human like you." (Gunman)
He points his finger straight at Harald's face, a small black spot converges and forms over his finger nail in a gun pose. There was no sound no charging up, it fired straight between Harald's eyes while he was rushing towards it. He had planned to slice down the gunman, but ended up making himself more vulnerable in the process. It was a bullet on another level that would sear through his brain and leave a headless body behind.
Unable to deal with it on his own terms anymore. He uses up all of its energy to power up his body. His arm brings the blade upwards to block his face.
"Tch!" (Harald)
He crushes the bullet then lowers his body under the gunman's line of sight, in a single step he reached the gun man's back and vertically bisected him.
"...!? How... I should have matched... A D grade....!??! "(Gunman)
Harald doesn't answer him and leaves his body to fall apart. He was way more disappointed at his over reliance on the sword's power. He picks the spear up and lets the scabbard swallow it up. He practically vacuums up the blood bullets that dropped on the floor with the scabbard.
"... I wasn't able to do it without the sword's power. Anything incoming?" (Harald)
A trace of defeat wa sin his voice, what's more he had wasted a lot of the sword's energy. He'll have to hunt monsters instead of humans if he wanted to be more efficient at charging his sword... But the danger will also be way higher. On one hand he can lessen the guild by treating the monster's lives as animal lives for slaughter, on the other the level of danger will be higher than ever, to the point that it threatens his life.
"No... The coast is clear. Just like the time the rogue attacked and the time the crane attacked... The ones patrolling this area are awfully lax..." (Galadyn)
Without much elaboration, Harald was aware of Galdyn's access to large amounts of funds. He had so much wealth, enough to hire a Mercenary like him, enough to pay for a variety of magic tools and professional services for their revenge.
"Did they just happen to be more carefree during this month? What the hell, I was prepared to fight my way out of magical girls..." (Harald)
They used a magic item that functioned similarly to a walkytalky, allowing them to communicate from far distances. Galadyn was outside the cult base, watching out for anyone that might intrude, such as magical girls or other vigilantes like them.
"... Through some exclusive sources, it looks like there's been massive raids on the cults. That's why there's little to no magical girls guarding their branches now. The local magical girl orders... In other words private military forces of magical girls are helping out these raiders. I've heard that they've been wiping out the major branches once a week. " (Galadyn)
It was a year, a month, 2 weeks and 3 days since The Great Disaster. The Rising Knight Order raised its efforts in vanquishing the cult, but as it stands, there were only rumours. One newbie magical girl had made an impact, but they stay confined to the vicinity of their stationed area.
They didn't have the freedom to freely search for bases and destroy, moreover it would take lots of time to search for these bases as well as destroy them. So many lives would have to be taken... If someone could do that... No one would really be sure if they were a hero or a magical girl anymore.
"... I see, so even in the underworld, they cannot hide away from justice huh? That... It makes me glad. " (Harald)
He exhaled a little on relief, though his adrenaline continued to run high as he kept running to find a way to escape the base. His enemies had evacuated, but some remnants might still be around. Now that the sword's magic was nearly used up, it would be dangerous to even fight a normal human. Especially one's from the underworld who have no qualms killing an intruder.
" Certainly an unexpectedly good reason for the absence of law enforcement... At the same time, there is an absence of law enforcement. Patrol routes are thinned out and monster attacks become more frequent, as well as receiving late responses for assistance. In the long run, crimes run by the cult will decrease drastically. But in the short term that the magical girls are not around... Petty crime will shoot up. " (Galadyn)
"... Allowing crimes like what the rogue did to happen to us... " (Harald)
It was the lax in security that allowed that atrocity to happen. A regret that will never go away. That is what they are. A thorn in everyone's side, one that bears unbearable grudges.
" Alright, I need to charge back up. Let's go to the next target." (Harald)
Galadyn had connections and money, while Harald had strength. That was the only role they can fill in this give and take deal. They perfectly complement the other, so now that they've found each other they would exploit this relationship to the maximum.
"... No, we can't rush through them at once. I'll let you fight tomorrow, today you need to guard at this deal we have." (Galadyn)
"I see." (Harald)
He doesn't fight it even if he finds their activities fishy. Their mutual assistance would be the backbone of their revenge after all. It was necessary to appease and get to know one another. In exchange for his work, Galadyn properly pays him and has even prepared a formal suit for him. High chance, violence would break out and the suit would get torn. But in this conquest of theirs, would it really matter?
***
They ahd arrived at the venue, it looked sophisticated with cloth wrapped tables, velvety curtains that cover walls instead of curtains, intricate embroidery stretched across the carpets...
*BOOOooommm!!!*
Puffs of smoke expand like bubbles and proliferate like cancer, swallowing the entire venue up in an instant. Just as expected, there were a few tears here and there on Harald's suit already, though they weren't from the explosion but from his sheer strength. It was a fake that was made as disposable, on one hand Harald felt relief that his partner could foresee this situation, on the other he was disappointed that he didn't actually have a new addition to his wardrobe.
He carried Galadyn under his arm as they ran under the cover of the smoke, there was no warning before hand. The only order he received was 'guard', but he had taken the liberty to memorise escape routes and planned contingencies. The odor of burnt carpet filled his nose, sending his heartbeat a little higher.
"You're insane, standing so close to a bomb?!" (Harald)
"Gotta take out the competition, don't we~?" (Galadyn)