Hibiscus thought to herself this was bad. At this moment the cabin windows rang with tapping sounds—high-altitude condensed hail pounding the civilian airliner, while distant clouds rose with flames, a scene of ice and fire.
The flames came from magic power release by boss-level Disaster Beasts higher than Vanguard Types. Though the true form hadn't appeared, it triggered anomalies—coming too fast to give people transfer opportunities.
Powerful pressure directly affected the natural environment, showing how terrifying the real thing was.
Drastic hot-cold changes caused high-altitude airflow turbulence, transmitting violent shaking through the fuselage. Clanging sounds filled their ears, and even fastened seatbelts couldn't help. Though not directly encountering Disaster Beast attacks, invisible magic power release was most terrifying. The entire cabin flickered bright and dark with screaming and shouting:
"Captain, land quickly!"
"We're dead."
"What bullshit safest transportation—you have the highest accident fatality rate per unit."
"Even riding the Titanic wouldn't wipe everyone out."
Passenger riots left flight attendants unable to maintain order. Everyone was toppling and tumbling like on a leaf boat in violent storms, unable even to stand steady. Sharper sounds were children crying—several girls beside Hibiscus were bawling. Great, I've encountered a middle school study trip?
Had to admit the captain's professional quality was excellent. Even under these circumstances he maintained basic stability rushing toward the emergency landing point, but the fiery clouds were slowly approaching.
Boom!
People watched helplessly as a large civilian airliner was swept into the fiery clouds by airflow, exploding the next moment in brilliant firelight.
Bad news: witnessing their impending fate made them even more unhinged. Good news: after the explosion the fiery clouds dispersed somewhat, weakening in power. Though approaching, not as menacing as before. If they found a way to break it up, could they be saved? But couldn't rule out the risk of attracting Disaster Beast swarm attention. Only Hibiscus noticed the subtle magic power weakening changes—everyone else was completely panicked with no attention to spare. Electronic devices were failing, sparks crackling continuously overhead.
"Big sister, aren't you scared?" the girl next to her asked timidly. Perhaps because Hibiscus remained calm, she temporarily wasn't swept up in collective emotions.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine."
Before she finished speaking, another violent shake sent some people toppling unconscious. High-altitude oxygen deprivation plus magic power pressure double-stacked caused bodily dysfunction. In her perception more and more people collapsed—when it reached the captain, they'd be finished.
Hibiscus began considering whether she could carry a civilian airliner for emergency landing like Superman in worst case?
Wouldn't work.
Future magical girls who could reshape terrain with one basic attack could do it, but not now. In other words, she had to reverse the situation before the worst case of the captain fainting occurred.
Defeating the fiery clouds was first choice, but when she extended her perception, her heart jumped. Flying low-level Disaster Beasts were mixed inside—so-called strength in numbers creating an aerial killer, obviously commanded by the Boss Disaster Beast codenamed "Abyssal White Whale." Large-scale clusters were disgusting precisely because organized groups couldn't compare to individual combat.
That commander was sealing the field from hunting instinct, effectively creating a barrier. During this time many flying objects probably met with foul play.
If it continued causing havoc, the countermeasure forces' air superiority would be hard to utilize, and pressure would fall on Hibiscus.
She couldn't consider preserving herself—she had to crush the fiery clouds here.
"Time stop."
In just an instant white sand filled the surroundings, all phenomena frozen solid. The surging Sands of Time seemed to echo their master's mood—magic ready to unleash, just waiting for a stage to shine.
Hibiscus left her seat and flashed to an empty area at the cabin's rear where no one bought seats, with a window perfectly aimed at the fiery clouds.
What to do? She couldn't leave without damaging the cabin—this involved time magic weaknesses. If she was trapped in enclosed space beforehand, stopping time would greatly reduce effectiveness. Like now, she couldn't tear open the plane's hull and run outside to snipe.
And it was hard to guarantee results, after all those miscellaneous low-level Disaster Beasts numbered in the dozens.
Whoosh!
Sound like an hourglass running out echoed as hesitation caused the pause to end. Crisis remained, crying, cursing, chaos disturbing her thoughts.
Everyone watched the fiery clouds gradually grip the plane in their palm, immediately turning pale with shock. The precedent was utter annihilation—were they now about to follow suit, becoming ashes without trace?
"I hate flying," Hibiscus concluded as if making up her mind.
Before she finished speaking the world lost color—time stop activated for the second time. Since both maximized delay effects, only these two times in short succession—fleeting opportunity.
The girl made a gun gesture through the glass aimed at the fiery clouds' core. Though in the time-frozen world, howling winds blew—this was converging tremendous magic power. Meanwhile Regalia appeared around Hibiscus as she prepared to output this move at full capacity. Blood boiling, heart pounding, all magic power concentrated at her fingertip. No need for excess motion—the entire 9-second pause used for charging—
9th second!
Hibiscus was slightly stunned, not expecting to break limits at this crucial moment. She simply continued compressing magic power, even betting her life.
10th second!
Her body couldn't withstand high-concentration magic power refinement, aching all over but not stopping.
11th second.
The moment the world regained color, Hibiscus shouted fiercely, using all her strength to release magic power. The long-brewing deadly attack shot out—a hair-thin energy beam penetrated the glass window striking the fiery clouds directly, hitting the dense flying Disaster Beast area without suspense and erupting in shockwaves. Pure magic power storms tore targets apart.
With a thunderous boom that cloud mass rapidly expanded then collapsed, azure magic power and red flames mixing together, canceling and annihilating along with the Disaster Beasts.
Hibiscus watched that pressure retreat in defeat. Clouds parted to reveal sky, proud sun broadcasting, the plane stabilizing. Passengers had basically fainted from magical girl and Disaster Beast pressure, but fortunately the captain's area was safe—they'd picked up a life under unknown circumstances.
She breathed a long sigh of relief and released transformation. This move drained all magic power from her body, nearly costing life force too.
This overseas trip was indeed perilous, but she'd already had no choice. At this moment the plane was rushing toward Edo at full speed, with thick smoke rising from the distant horizon—probably experienced a tsunami.
"When soldiers come, generals block; when water comes, earth dams. Whatever."
The girl openly returned to her seat to rest with eyes closed, best to quickly replenish magic power for the coming fierce battle.
Before long passengers gradually awakened. When they confirmed they were safely proceeding to the airport, cheers erupted—thank heavens, narrow escape from death. At this moment they didn't yet know theirs was the only flight to successfully land in two hours—everyone had just dove headfirst into the storm's eye.