Published: January 22, 2026
“What is this… this situation…”
Philly had decided to retreat but still couldn’t shake off Fuuka.
With cognitive alteration, Philly’s presence and aura should have been completely undetectable, yet Fuuka maximized her astonishing five senses and future sight to keep track of Philly without fail.
They had moved far from where the hero party's mansion once stood, now near the outer wall in the northwest part of the city.
“If you keep going like this, my family’s in danger! Just give up already, you criminal!!”
One of the ordinary citizens shouted at Fuuka, trying to grab her.
Besides this person, about four others were also attempting to capture Fuuka.
This was all due to Philly’s cognitive alteration.
Those trying to catch Fuuka had their perception rewritten to believe that she was responsible for the incident.
Furthermore, they were gripped by an obsession that if Fuuka wasn’t caught, their families would be in grave danger, driving them to relentlessly pursue her without regard for anything else.
“…Annoying.”
Fuuka couldn’t just slash the ordinary citizens controlled by Philly, so she was forced into combat while fending them off.
Normally, it would be easy for Fuuka to lose ordinary citizens.
However, Philly kept a just-close-enough distance from the crowd.
If Fuuka tried to leave the group, Philly would launch offensive magic against the citizens, making it impossible for Fuuka to break away.
From this perspective, the situation seemed overwhelmingly favorable for Philly.
—But actually, Fuuka held the advantage.
Philly no longer had the strength to rewrite Fuuka’s cognition; at most, she could manage it once more.
Philly planned to kill Fuuka and the ordinary citizens clinging to her with magic, but to this point, not a single person had died.
“She’s the most dangerous person from Shinonome… There’s no way she should be able to master that katana… this is unbelievable…”
Philly murmured, clutching the shoulder wound Fuuka had just inflicted.
Even Philly, who had faced many battlefields and fights, struggled to accept what was happening before her eyes.
When Philly tried to blow her away with an explosion, Fuuka threw the surrounding people aside to protect them from the blast.
When Philly attempted to summon a tornado, Fuuka’s copper-colored blade sliced through the air, physically blocking the mana flow.
Fuuka was casually performing incredible feats.
“Agility up.”
Philly’s plan to use ordinary citizens failed, and running out of options, she decided to stop scheming and focus on escaping.
◇
With Philly pulling away, the ordinary citizens who had only undergone shallow cognitive alteration regained their senses.
“Huh? What was I doing…?”
“Why am I in a place like this?”
“This place is dangerous. Everyone, head straight to the guild. That’s the evacuation point.”
Fuuka, realizing Philly’s brainwashing had been lifted, called out to the citizens.
Seeing Fuuka’s words and the collapsed buildings nearby, the citizens turned pale.
When Fuuka urged them to head to the guild again, they all rushed off in that direction.
After seeing them off, Fuuka immediately gave chase to Philly.
Fuuka’s physical ability was superior from the start.
Even if Philly enhanced herself with buffs, Fuuka had buffs too, thanks to her qi.
In a simple chase, Philly could not outrun Fuuka.
Fuuka caught up before Philly reached the West Gate.
But Philly had foreseen this outcome.
She suddenly stopped, turned around, and activated magic.
“—!”
Fuuka immediately thrust her katana into the ground as a fierce gust strong enough to blow people away whipped up.
Nearby buildings were blown apart by the wind.
But Fuuka, the main target, crouched low and clung tightly to the embedded blade, enduring the storm until it subsided.
Once the wind died down, Fuuka released her grip on the sword and advanced in a low stance towards Philly.
“First, one hit.”
“—!?”
Fuuka murmured as she focused her qi into her right fist and struck Philly’s abdomen with full force.