The Line to Protect (3)

The Line to Protect (3)

[He’s really something else]

“…As expected, he’s not an ordinary evil spirit.”

[You just figured that out?]

When I glared at him, Ren, who was sitting next to me, closed his mouth.

Inwardly clicking my tongue, I just relaxed my body and leaned back on the seat absentmindedly.

Right now, I was in a state where I couldn’t speak or move.

A gag made of a crumpled handkerchief was in my mouth, and my hands were tightly bound to the seatbelt.

This poor possessed person who put me in the car revealed his true nature as soon as he got in, locking the doors, so I went along with it for now. I needed to know what his purpose was.

[What on earth is he trying to do by kidnapping even his own daughter? I can only think of truly crazy ideas]

“I feel the same. Surely… it won’t be anything good.”

Ren muttered with a sigh. At the same time, I glanced to the side.

A girl who looked like an elementary school student was sleeping, exhausted from crying. Judging by how she had been shouting “Why are you doing this?” at her possessed father when he revealed his true nature, she must be his daughter.

[…I sense magical power with a negative inclination. And it’s very strong]

As the car left the city center and started climbing up a sparsely populated mountain.

There were things that even my senses could pick up.

Very powerful magical powers with negative inclinations, the kind you can feel from succubi and yōko. I could tell because I’ve had more than a few encounters with them.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. What do you mean by negative inclination?”

[The power that Yggdrasil has, and the power that magical girls have, is closer to positive energy. If hope, future, and passion are its driving forces, then negative energy is driven by grudges and coldness. The energy that monsters have is closer to negative. Because its driving force isn’t exactly bright]

I gave a rough explanation to Ren, who, despite being a mascot, didn’t know about the nature and attributes of magical power.

[But if it’s as I expect, it’s really a stupid move. The most ideal magical power is fluid, without any attributes. The moment magical power takes on attributes and properties, if you can’t control it, it devours the user in an instant]

The problem is that ordinary humans can’t possibly know something that even the fairy company mascot doesn’t know.

After continuously driving along the mountain road, the car stopped in front of a villa.

“Hey, ask them to control this guy. These are new vessels.”

Of course, if it were an ordinary villa, there wouldn’t be armed forces waiting with guns, and they wouldn’t be unfazed by seeing someone possessed by an evil spirit.

“Answer. Who are you, where did you come from, and who did you bring?”

“These, these crazy bastards… They’re clearly human, but how can they control the mammoth’s evil spirit!”

Ren was shocked to see them controlling the possessed person.

Meanwhile, the girl next to me and I were forcibly pulled out of the car.

“A 14-year-old girl I met by chance in downtown Seoul, and my 13-year-old daughter who was on her way home from school.”

“…Alright. Move the kids.”

The possessed person emotionlessly spilled all our information. Then he got back in the car and left. He looked more like a robot than a possessed person.

“Take them away.”

Once again, my arms and legs were restrained, and a blindfold was put over my eyes. Then I was picked up and carried somewhere.

“We’re going underground now. When, when are you going to transform and sweep them all away?”

Ren stuck close to me and informed me of the situation.

“For now, put the new vessels away. We’ll use them when the ones ahead are depleted.”

“Understood.”

I was moved somewhere and thrown onto a flat surface after hearing the order to put me away.

“When, when are you going to transform?!”

Ren urged in a desperate voice, but I ignored it for now. I wanted to know what these guys were trying to do.

Soon, a needle pierced my neck.

This was something I had experienced before. Of course, my blood vessels would be fine even if hydrochloric acid was poured into them.

For now, I pretended to lose consciousness and let my body go limp as they intended.

“Hiiieek!”

They removed the blindfold and took out the gag from my mouth.

Ren seemed to be making a fuss unnecessarily… or so I thought, but it wasn’t just a fuss.

[This is crazy…]

“Yes, they’ve incinerated your clothes and are now putting some kind of respirator on you.”

They stripped off all my clothes. Then they put something in my mouth that covered both my nose and mouth.

Whether intentional or not, Ren was giving a play-by-play of my situation.

“We’re moving. This place is… no way.”

And then the cart I was lying on moved entirely, and soon my body, covered with various things on my arms and legs, was plunged into somewhere.

In a cold liquid, but not water. Ren’s voice could no longer be heard.

[I know what it is and where we are]

I sent a voice message to Ren and opened my eyes slightly.

The place where my body was floating was inside a giant glass test tube, like the ones I had seen when we raided an illegal criminal organization’s ship.

Now, I had become one of those victims inside.

[It’s obvious]

There were dozens of such test tubes in this massive underground facility. I inwardly smirked as I saw a familiar face in one of the test tubes opposite me.

Kim Su-han, who said she was going to meet Park Tae-jun. She was submerged in there, looking just like me, as if dead.

“…!”

I opened my eyes and made eye contact with a man in a researcher’s outfit who was passing by.

He was startled, pointed at me, and stumbled, falling down by himself.

“…?”

Then he got up again and cautiously approached, tapping on the glass window with a look of disbelief.

It seemed he couldn’t believe I had regained consciousness inside, so I deliberately moved my hand to show him.

I spread my fingers wide in front of his eyes.

Seeing him staring with wide eyes, I grinned and pressed the Magical Girl’s Connector that others couldn’t see.

*

“39 experiments conducted, although 38 had to be discarded… Finally! Finally! As expected, more subjects mean faster progress!”

Andrei shouted in excitement, his voice trembling.

Unaware that a potential catastrophe rivaling Mamut had entered his lab, he rejoiced at finally achieving his desired results.

“Director!”

“Give orders to A-146 right now!”

“Ah, understood.”

At his excited words, a subordinate researcher flinched and operated the computer.

Andrei turned his gaze back to the front.

A girl sat on the examination table with a blank expression, her forearms covered in black veins.

“Order executed. The order is to stand up and manifest your ability.”

Upon receiving the order, the girl stood up abruptly, maintaining an expressionless face like a doll.

Simultaneously, she ignited a dark purple flame in her hand. It was the same power extracted from the Magical Girl.

“Remote control is 100% perfect.”

“She’s still young, so her ego is relatively weak. It’s not difficult to completely shatter the existing ego and start anew. You’ve been reborn, A-146.”

The girl’s head had a long scar. As soon as she showed compatibility with the administered drugs, they had cut open her head and implanted over a dozen remotely connected control chips into her brain.

Andrei saw this and bared his teeth in a grin.

“Ugh… Uaah!”

“Magical Girl! It’s a Magical Girl!!”

Just then, an uproar broke out along with the emergency alarm.

If it had been just moments ago when the experiments were repeatedly failing, Andrei would have flown into a rage.

But now it was different.

“I expected it, but that was fast. Begin evacuating this place immediately. Protect the research data as the top priority, and secure as many subjects as possible. Then completely incinerate this place.”

“But the Magical Girl is approaching at an incredible speed…”

“It doesn’t matter. Our A-146 is the perfect natural enemy of Magical Girls. Send this child to that Magical Girl right now. And we’ll escape.”

Andrei gave his final order with composure.

The girl who received the order turned her head with a cracking sound, and ran out of the laboratory with thundering steps, without even removing the needles stuck in her body.

“…So. Who is this capable Magical Girl who discovered this place so quickly?”

“It’s Tequilas, the new Magical Girl of Code Red.”

“A true Magical Girl and a big shot has come. Tell them to mobilize the possessed ones too.”

Andrei, who was hurriedly preparing to evacuate, flinched at the mention of Tequilas. But he soon regained his composure.

After all, in his experiments, it was essential to subdue a strong Magical Girl and obtain her biological data.

“Screen.”

As Andrei rushed towards the emergency exit, he could check the situation of those blocking Tequilas on the terminal handed to him.

“This is déjà vu too.”

“H-However, unlike that time, she looks perfectly fine!”

Everyone she met collapsed, spewing blood from her hands. It was a scene where one could see how terrifying a magical girl who doesn’t hesitate to kill could become.

However, as the shocked Ren pointed out, there was someone who stood in her way without hesitation.

A nameless girl who was sacrificed as the organization’s test subject, denied of all her past, and reborn as a controlled puppet.

Of course, the Demon King Takilas didn’t care about such things.

‘Damn it.’

But she stopped the movement of the shadows.

“Why, why are you doing this! Counter-attack now!”

“No, I can’t counter-attack.”

Takilas couldn’t counter-attack even when A-146 struck her abdomen with a burning fist.

All she could do was restrain the girl who was struggling while holding her hand.

“The damn magical girl power recognizes this child as a completely innocent civilian.”

She clicked her tongue and smiled bitterly as she watched the girl, who was still trying to punch her with an expressionless face despite her broken wrist dangling from hitting her stomach.