"Sorry, you guys continue your discussion. I don't understand all this stuff about 'hydrogen bombs' and 'fusion' and 'neutrons' - it all sounds so amazing to me. I'll just slip away for now."
Mia turned back and gave me an apologetic smile, then flew straight out of the cave entrance.
"Wasn't she supposed to be here for an exchange? How did she end up becoming an assistant?"
I was completely dumbfounded by this turn of events. The library staff Mona only had four wings, so it made some sense that she would help out with menial tasks. But for an esteemed eight-winged angel to willingly be ordered around was just absurd!
"Well, she does need us, doesn't she? Until my experiment here is complete, she has no choice but to help out first. And we do have a lot of odd jobs that need an extra hand now that we've moved here. Can't expect Nicola to handle it all alone, right?"
Reed emerged from behind a pile of books, casually tossing a gas collection sphere to Cyra.
"Here, this is the thing you were pestering to see!"
"It looks the same though. What's the difference?"
Cyra took it and peered at it for a few moments, immediately crying out in disappointment as it did not match her imagined appearance of a hydrogen bomb.
"What were you expecting?"
Reed didn't even glance her way, asking flatly in response.
"I already explained earlier that the mechanism behind a hydrogen bomb is quite simple. The real difficulty lies in achieving the conditions necessary for detonation. This apparatus is nothing more than a device for increasing pressure."
"What about the remote detonation controls? I don't see those anywhere!"
Cyra refused to give up, pressing on with her questioning.
"Hydrogen bombs need to have some kind of remote triggering device to set them off from a distance, right? How do you plan to handle that function? Don't tell me you're going to try controlling it with your mind or something?"
Though it sounded a bit absurd, such mental remote control did not seem entirely impossible in this world.
"There is no remote control function whatsoever."
But Reed immediately shut down that notion, casually revealing her true intentions.
"My original plan was to detonate it through direct operation at close range."
"Huh? Say what?"
"You can't be serious!"
I and Cyra could hardly believe our ears, shocked that we'd misheard something so outrageous.
"If you detonate it up close like that, wouldn't you be right at the epicentre of the blast?"
Just to be safe, I had to confirm again. If I was guessing correctly, was Reed planning on physically withstanding a nuclear detonation?
"That's exactly what I intend to do!"
But she didn't hesitate for a moment, affirming very definitively.
"Remote methods are possible but overly complicated. Plus many of the necessary materials are hard to obtain here in Edenmere, so direct detonation is the most straightforward way..."
"But that's no different than suicide bombing! Do you have a death wish?"
Cyra interrupted to cut straight to the core issue. At least by our understanding, even as angels now, there was no way we could survive at the center of a nuclear blast.
Moreover, judging by the weight of the gas collection sphere, if the hydrogen stored inside was successfully detonated, the yield would be far beyond that of a normal nuclear weapon. Even atomic bombs would seem like child's play in comparison.
"It seems like even now, you still don't properly understand the nature of angels...or rather, the nature of the Light element!"
Reed glanced at the three of us and suddenly sighed as if lamenting our ignorance.
"Do you remember the lesson Aetina gave at the very beginning? About how to protect your wings..."
"I know that one! I remember it very clearly from when she taught it the second time!"
Cyra was quick to chime in with the answer.
"It's releasing a portion of the Light element from your body to cover your wings. That provides defence against elemental attacks."
"Do you know why it has that defensive effect?"
Reed immediately followed up with another question, and Cyra faltered.
"Um...isn't it because of magic?"
"No, it is not!"
Reed shook her head.
"Whenever an angel uses magic, whether chanting or not, the Light element circulates in complex ways internally. But covering the wings only requires external release, with no relation to magic whatsoever."
"So it's because the Light element itself has defensive properties?"
I joined in, as my battles during the tournament had given me some firsthand experience of the Light element's protective effects.
"Correct. It seems you noticed as well, Feliciana."
Reed nodded approvingly at my input.
"In truth, the Light element's defensive capacity against other elements is far greater than we imagine. This very fact is why angels are immune to most magical attacks - because angel bodies are composed entirely of the Light element."
"But still, that can't possibly extend to withstanding a nuclear blast, right? For starters, angels' immunity isn't absolute. Atina did say they can't defend against forbidden-tier magic..."
I still couldn't wrap my head around it. While I'd never seen what forbidden spells looked like, it seemed unlikely they could be much more powerful than a nuclear detonation, especially one of this magnitude.
"The strength of the Light element's defence depends mainly on its concentration - the higher the concentration, the greater the protection. And since angel bodies are already energy-made, their concentration is maximal."
Rather than jumping straight to an explanation, Reed first provided some background context.
"I've done experiments showing that the defence provided by releasing Light to cover the wings is generally between 50-70%. That is, any magical attack striking protected wings will have its power reduced by at least half. Meanwhile, the magic defence of the angel body itself can reach over 90%."
"It's really that strong?"
I gasped. Although my battles with Michelle had impressed me regarding my magical resilience, hearing it quantified like this still seemed outrageous.
Going by what I'd seen, the high-tier spell "Light's Sanctum" probably only offered around 50% defence at best. But in light of this, that level of protection from a thin barrier was quite remarkable, given the broad area it covered. Likely boosted by magical enhancements.
"Looks like I made the right call not learning magic after all. I'd just be at a complete disadvantage against angels otherwise."
Nicola sounded quite relieved as if mocking my earlier encouragement for her to study magic.
"Your opponents won't necessarily always be angels. More skills can't hurt, right?"
I stood by my position. And learning magic didn't have to only be for combat purposes.
"Even with 90%, what does that have to do with withstanding a nuclear blast?"
Cyra remained focused on the feasibility of physically resisting a nuke. Still unsatisfied, she kept pressing for answers.
"By itself, even if only 10% of the power got through, an angel's body clearly couldn't withstand a nuke. But have you considered what would happen if you released another layer of Light to cover your body surface? Like this..."
Rather than elaborate further, Reed opted for a live demonstration. I immediately noticed a thin layer of light enveloping her, similar to what I'd observed on Cyra's wings before.
"So basically a personal barrier?"
Cyra immediately understood, even offering another suggestion with an excited clap.
"Would be better to make it a sphere around you like in those anime shows - more efficient coverage with the curved surface."
"Shaping it into a sphere would require magical arrays to control it. The released Light will dissipate uncontrollably otherwise, so it can only adhere directly to the skin."
Reed took the time to explain seriously. To me, these were all very basic, commonsense facts that Cyra should know. Her nostalgic, old-fashioned "anime Otaku" thinking was getting the better of her and could be safely ignored.
"It does seem a valid approach. And if one layer isn't enough, you could just add more..."
Meanwhile, Nicola lowered her head in contemplation. Observing closely, I could see a white glow now surrounding her as well, evidently testing it out personally.
"Based on 50-70% defence from release...that would provide at least 50% * 90% = 45% protection..."
Cyra gazed up at the cavern ceiling, beginning the mental calculations when her face suddenly blanked.
"Wait, shouldn't that be higher?"
"Did you have gym teachers for math or something? How do you mess up such a simple problem!"
I just couldn't hold back any longer and gave a light knock to her head to correct her.
"It's 50% * 90% = 45%. Then add the 50%, totaling 95% defense! More layers would bring it close to 98%. Of course, these are just rough estimates - actual values will fluctuate."
"Hey, don't hit me like that, I'll turn dumb!"
Cyra yelped in pain, pitifully protesting my correction. I suddenly felt a twinge in my heart - how could I find her behaviour so adorably endearing?
Strange...though Michelle's face is identical to hers it never came across like this at all. Why so different on her?
"This can certainly boost magical defence, but nuclear weapons aren't magic, right?"
Nicola, speaking up unusually, raised a pertinent question.
"You're correct, they are not. However, the angelic defence may not be limited solely to elemental effects. Supposedly it can completely nullify even non-elemental forces like battle qi of humans."
Reed shared her hypothesis.
"So I suspect the Light element protects against all energy-based attacks."
"Are you certain?"
I furrowed my brow slightly. Stakes were high on something like this. Making assessments based only on guess seemed far too risky with the possibility of being vaporized on the line.
"Around 80% probability..."
She hesitated briefly before providing another estimate.