"...so this is it, huh?"
'Feel like I've been saying that way too often recently.'
It was time.
This was the day that the flood dragon was going to emerge, without fail.
I'd been staking everything on even the slightest possibility that this thing could be killed here and now.
"God, you're so depressing. You're really treating it like your last day on earth, huh?"
I smelt the Saintess's cigar smoke before I even saw her. In her hands were two pistols with an incredibly intricate golden design etched into them. She was dressed in her usual nun's outfit, giving me a sneer from the side.
Seriously, she reminded me of a Black Lagoon character sometimes...
"I don't have a choice, do I? Everyone is treating it like that. We have to."
For once - her obviously demeaning tone didn't affect me as I replied. I was too busy looking down at everyone from the rooftop we were on.
We were on buildings close to the coast. Naturally, they weren't that high, but high enough to give us some vantage.
Magical girls flew through the air. Some rode on brooms like witches, while some seemingly just levitated.
Liliana was down there with the members of our guild, too, directing them to set up fortifications and blockades, which she reinforced with the unnaturally strong wood born from her powers.
It wasn't a shabby effort at all. We had spent every waking moment of the last 3 weeks setting up this coastline fortification.
We ate here, trained here, slept here, and built here, when the chance arose. Our alliance had made this entire beach front our territory.
"I for one don't plan on dying here. Especially since I've got the most important role. I'm sure Lily would pay some attention to me after this."
The Saintess grinned at me, and spat out her cigarette.
That was right. Though the magical girls all had weird magical spells of some kind, the Saintess alone had the most powerful offense out of all of us, with no comparison.
It was all due to her ability, and her guild, which ultimately existed just to make her even more powerful.
"You're as prideful as ever, huh?" I couldn't help but laugh. "At least that doesn't change."
The Saintess waved me off. "Oh shut up, trash. You should learn to grow a pair instead of mooching off mine."
I smiled.
Actually, the Saintess's harsh words had become a little funny to me now. I can't say I fully trusted her, but...we were going to be comrades fighting for our lives.
"Keep up that bravery for the first shot, eh? We're going to need it."
"Don't need you to tell me that. I'd prefer hearing some comforting words from Lily instead~"
I rolled my eyes. At that moment, the leader of the magical girls - who I'd come to know as Nozomi - hovered up in view.
"Everything's ready, Clerk-san. We're only waiting for the sign now, okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Nozomi."
The pink-haired girl stared at me blankly for a while. I sighed, eventually giving in.
"...Nozomi-nee-san."
"Good! You should respect your older sister after all, shouldn't you?" She smiled brightly.
"I really don't think we're that different in age, though. And we're still not family..."
"She didn't mean age, trash. She meant in power!" The Saintess grinned, bursting out into cackling laughter.
"Oh, come on, Saintess..."
"She's absolutely right! I can't have my adorable, incapable little brother fighting on the front lines...are you sure you want to be here?"
"Oi, seriously, who decided I was your brother?!"
"Hmmmph...I look away for a little bit, and everyone's having fun." Liliana pouted, easily arriving atop the building using one of her grown trees.
"Pshh. I wouldn't call it 'having fun'. I'm just 'making fun' of him. Like usual. I mean, he just gives too good of a reaction, right?"
The Saintess was seriously incorrigible. Well, I preferred this version of her over the non-friendly one.
"It's proof of his little-brotherhood...if Clerk-san were truly more mature, he couldn't be teased so easily!"
"Well, that's right, Alan does get teased a little too easily..." Liliana agreed, looking almost concerned.
"You all are seriously too much..."
I sounded like I was complaining, but really, I couldn't help but smile. Maybe this was the sort of thing we all needed before going against such an unbelievable threat.
And honestly, had any time in my past life been so lively? It'd just been running, hiding, cursing myself and everyone...since when was I able to just casually joke like this?
Staring out at the ocean ahead of us, I could only think of one thing.
'I wish that this moment could last forever. I don't need another life, if it's just this one.'
I wanted to protect this life that I had made with my own two hands.
"Ah, he's looking all serious again. Don't think that you can do anything on your own, trash. You're only able to do anything because we're here."
The Saintess' voice broke me out of my thoughts.
"Saintess-san is a bit mean, but yes, this is an alliance. We are all in this fight together, for now."
Nozomi's voice was genuine, though she still had that inscrutable air of mystery about her.
Liliana didn't say anything. I just felt a gentle weight, as she pressed her shoulder to mine. Being this comfortable with me...was stronger a sign of trust than any words she could have said.
"THE TIDE'S RECEDING!"
One of the magical girls flew back atop her broom, sparkling particles trailing behind her like pixie dust.
The atmosphere instantly became tense again, as everyone scrambled to their posts, preparing for the fight that was to come.
"Well...I'll be wishing everyone good luck!"
Nozomi was the first to leave, waving a bright pink wand around. She was surrounded by bright pink sparkles, her already pink hair taking on an ethereal glow. There were no goodbyes from her, as she lifted up into the air and flew away.
That just left the three of us.
"Liliana."
"Right...let's do this, Alan!"
The ground beneath us rumbled, as Liliana used her powers to erect a platform directly below the Saintess, herself, and I. It rose up high into the air, far higher than any building, and was firmly rooted into the ground below, the roots piercing through the skyscraper to use it as a support.
"Saintess...we're gonna start. Liliana, focus on maintaining all the other barriers."
"Mhm!"
Liliana closed her eyes as she extended her power out towards the wooden barricades and other constructs that littered the shore.
As we looked out towards the ocean - it was becoming more and more of a terrifying sight. The tide wasn't just receding...the entirety of the ocean was pulling away.
And then we felt it. Rain, starting out as a drizzle, then almost immediately transferring into a heavy downpour.
"Damn...! This thing moves fast! You really weren't lying your ass off, trash."
The Saintess leaned down on her stomach, her eyes focusing on the horizon. Heavy winds began to kick up around us, howling, as if shouting out in preparation of the incoming threat.
The Saintess took a deep breath, and a bright golden light began to surround her and her gun. She began murmuring something under her breath, as the golden inscription on her gun glowed. The shape of the gun morphed, turning into an even more ornate-looking sniper rifle.
This was a part of the Saintess' power - Divine. Now wasn't the time to think over the specifics of her ability, though.
More streams of golden light came from all over - not from her, but from her guild members, her followers, all deeply engaged in their own prayers and chants.
The Saintess' body itself was now glowing with an extremely bright, golden light. She shivered in place, and I could see a thin stream of blood coming from her lips.
"Ha...haha...never handled...this much...'divinity', before..."
That was where I came in. The Saintess would focus entirely on collecting her firepower together. Liliana focused on keeping the structures solid. Nozomi and the magical girls were running backup.
My only role was to tell the Saintess when, and where to shoot. I was the only one who knew what the Flood Dragon looked like, and it gave everyone the time to focus on their own roles.
I knelt down beside the Saintess, taking in a deep, shaky breath as I looked to the horizon. The water...was rushing back towards us now, and within that water, I could see it - that hellish, black silhouette, larger than almost anything on this entire beach.
I imagined that not even the world's largest whale could compare to its' size.
That was fine. We could do this. Deep breaths...
It came closer, closer, the water could be heard rumbling, the rain began to feel heavy on us, the wind was making everyone almost deaf-
"FIRE!"
The Saintess pressed the trigger the moment I spoke. A "bullet", more like a beam of holy golden light shot from the barrel of her rifle, sending a sonic boom screaming through the surroundings.
It flew towards the wave that now rushed in towards us - the sheer force from the beam was enough that the air surrounding it forced the waves apart. For a critical second, we saw the Flood Dragon - or perhaps it should be said, we saw the hellish truth of the Flood Dragon...
'Hahaha...I guess this is what I get for keeping my eyes closed like a coward.'
The beam of the Saintess' gun shot through empty air. Where the shadow of the Flood Dragon had laid within the water, there was nothing. The water reformed, and was rushing towards us again. And, as if mocking us, the Flood Dragon's immense shadow swimming within was still there.
In the first place, we had been preparing with a complete wrong assumption. Whether it was invisible, intangible, or just didn't exist...
There was no Flood Dragon to shoot.