Alice had a great deal of magical power.
But compared to Patchouli, it was nothing.
With Patchouli replenishing her energy, not only was Alice's body rapidly repaired, but even the depleted magic within her was completely refilled the moment her physical wounds were healed. In fact, compared to before, Alice's magical power had now received a massive boost.
"Haah... haah..."
Gasping for breath even after Patchouli had pulled away, Alice was overwhelmed by a sensation she'd never experienced before.
But Patchouli seemed utterly unbothered, even calmly asking Alice,
"Are you alright? Is there anywhere you still feel unwell?" Her eyes were filled with deep concern and care.
"Mmm... I'm fine..." Alice's face was slightly flushed, and she found it a little hard to meet Patchouli's gaze.
"Is that so? But your face is still so red, and your body temperature is quite high. That Black Dragon couldn't have left some kind of curse on you, could it? Let me check again."
Patchouli's tone was completely serious as she leaned in close to Alice once more.
"Eh? No! I'm better! I'm completely fi— Mmmph!!"
Alice watched Patchouli's approach with panic in her eyes, only for Patchouli to kiss her again.
Magic power flowed through their lips into Alice's body, moving rapidly within her and spurring Alice's own magic into a swift circulation.
The mana inside her surged wildly, yet with a strange orderliness.
Alice could sense that Patchouli was guiding her magic, likely to form some kind of special circuit.
Even though she knew it was for her own good, Alice felt like she could almost cry.
She had always kept her distance from others, rarely engaging in intimate contact. And while she had known of Patchouli for a long time, this was truly their first time meeting.
Yet, on their very first meeting, she had been kissed by Patchouli. Twice. Two times, just like that...
And the most crucial point was this:
Right now, the magic inside Alice was circulating at an incredible speed, so fast that it should have been enough to 'scorch' her body to a crisp.
But with Patchouli's own magic acting as a protective buffer, that wasn't going to happen.
The problem was, Alice's body was completely immobilized. She could only wait for Patchouli to finish...
'Please, let no one notice this...' Alice prayed inwardly. If anyone saw her in this state, she would absolutely want to bury herself in embarrassment afterward.
In fact, if she could move right now, she would definitely try to evade Patchouli...
She just couldn't handle this at all...
But just as Alice finished her silent plea, a voice sounded again from within the gap—Yukari Yakumo's voice.
"Eh? What are you trying to do?! Patchouli alone is enough! The gap can't handle you! If you go through, my gap will definitely collapse almost immediately! Wait a moment!!"
"Yuyuko worked hard to stop the entire world! You'll definitely interfere with it!!"
With the naked eye, one could clearly see it.
The moment Yukari's voice rang out, her gap began to distort, even seeming to start closing.
Outside the gap, the grey, monochrome world frozen in time began to slowly regain its color.
And from within the gap, a slender, jade-like hand reached out, as if its owner was being restrained by something, its movement extremely slow.
As this hand steadily extended further from the gap, the colors in this world gradually returned.
Finally, the delicate hand formed a fist.
A sound like shattering glass seemed to echo through the entire world. The frozen time began to flow again, and a girl emerged from the gap. She wore a red-checkered dress, held a closed parasol in her hand, and had short green hair and a cold, detached expression.
The moment she emerged from the gap, Yuuka Kazami's first sight was of Patchouli kissing Alice while holding her. She couldn't help but click her tongue in disapproval.
"You! If you want to get intimate, go do it in another world! Don't waste time in this one."
Yuuka directly reached out, grabbed Patchouli by the collar of her clothes, and gave a sharp tug—flinging both Patchouli and Alice straight back into the gap.
"Yukari Yakumo, send them to the next world," Yuuka said coldly, staring into the gap.
"Uh... alright, understood." Yukari sounded somewhat surprised by Yuuka's actions. "What about you? Planning to raise some hell in this world?"
Hearing this, Yuuka turned her head. Her gem-like red eyes looked toward the Black Dragon hovering in the sky not far away as she asked the unseen Yukari within the gap,
"How long can you hold?"
"Hmm... With little Alice and Patchy gone, things are a bit easier on my end. About five minutes," Yukari replied.
"Five minutes, then. Wait two for me."
After saying this, Yuuka lifted her parasol and flew straight toward the nearby Black Dragon.
In less than a second, Yuuka appeared right in front of the Black Dragon and extended her seemingly delicate arm.
Her hand landed softly against the Dragon's abdomen.
And then...
The sky began to rain red. A massive hole had been torn open in the Black Dragon's belly.
"Grooooaarrrrgh!!!!!" A agonized roar erupted from the Black Dragon's maw, even more wretched than when Alice had pierced a hole through its head.
Then, Yuuka instantly appeared above the Dragon's head. Her booted foot lashed out toward its skull.
Even for a youkai, the power in the legs was more than three times that of the arms, just like in humans.
If that kick landed squarely, the entire Black Dragon would likely be reduced to a puddle of blood and gore.
Inside the gap, Yukari, who was painstakingly maintaining the gap, felt a headache coming on seeing Yuuka's brutally straightforward approach.
"Yuuka... You're really planning to make a huge mess, aren't you? We aren't beings of this world. That Black Dragon is a crucial existence deeply tied to this world. If you kill it, little Alice might never be able to come back here."
"She still has friends in this world, you know..."
Yuuka's senses were extraordinarily sharp.
She heard Yukari's words from within the gap perfectly. The movement of her foot didn't change, nor did its speed, but the force behind it lessened considerably.
The kick landed.
The Black Dragon's head didn't explode, but its entire body was sent crashing into the ground by Yuuka's kick.
In the next moment, Yuuka shot toward the ground.
She reached out with her elegant hand, plunging it directly into the Black Dragon's skull. Gripping the Dragon's cranium, she exerted a slight force.
Yuuka wrenched the Black Dragon straight out of the ground and hurled it into the air.
Lifting her parasol, she unleashed a pure white pillar of light that instantly struck the Black Dragon, relentlessly driving it backward.
In a flash, the Black Dragon was blasted clear to the edge of the horizon.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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