The Unbreakable Flower (3)

The Unbreakable Flower (3)

The sky is clear and the wind is cool. No matter what happens, people continue to live.

The world doesn’t change so easily. It doesn’t stop easily either.

No matter who fights and dies where and how, it has always been difficult for that death to have meaning.

What makes it possible is ultimately power. Only strong power. That’s what she thought.

That’s why she dragged her battered body all the way here.

“Eun-seo…!”

Oh Yun-seo was shocked to see Ha Eun-seo’s condition and tried to jump up and run to her. However, Jeon So-hyeon held her back.

There was no other reason. It was just her own intuition.

“Why, why are you doing this?!”

“Calm down for a moment. Something seems off.”

Oh Yun-seo struggled in confusion, but Jeon So-hyeon didn’t let go of her arm.

Meanwhile, the security camera showed security personnel rushing towards Ha Eun-seo.

“…!”

“Oh no.”

And everyone flinched in shock at the ensuing scene. In an instant, Han Eun-seo, no, Magical Girl Aria, transformed again and subdued the security guards with a concise strike, knocking them unconscious.

And in that state, she continued to walk forward.

Past the security cameras and over the cowering employees, she kept going.

They realized where Aria was heading now.

“W-Why…”

“She’s clearly aiming for that. More importantly, didn’t you say you hadn’t told Aria about that?!”

Without time to be shocked by the fact that Han Eun-seo was Aria, Jeon So-hyeon pointed to the Smalilian core behind them.

Above all, it was puzzling how Aria, who had been out of contact, knew about that top-secret information.

“The mascot…!”

And Oh Yun-seo succeeded in guessing. It wasn’t impossible if she had heard information leaked from another magical girl’s mascot through a fairy realm company.

“W-What do we do now…”

“Stay calm. I don’t know why, but we need to stop her now!”

Oh Yun-seo couldn’t easily shake off the shock. She couldn’t accept the fact that Aria, who had always trusted and followed her, was now charging in here with an almost manic intensity.

‘It’s my fault. If I had given a clearer answer, could Eun-seo have not wavered… maybe.’

Guilt stabbed at her heart.

After Aria developed her own beliefs strongly influenced by her, Oh Yun-seo treated Aria as a grown adult.

In fact, Aria became a reliable force, operating based on her unique strong willpower and greatly helping the Management Bureau.

But that mental strength and belief, as strong as it was, could also break easily.

The typhoon named Takilas and the storm named Rene came one after another, stirring and shaking her. And in that process, Oh Yun-seo, who was an adult and guardian, couldn’t provide much help to the struggling Aria.

In such a situation, what shattered Aria’s precarious mind was none other than the cruel reality.

“We won’t be able to stop her! She seems to have sustained major injuries, but she’s still an S-class or higher Magical Girl. With our current forces, there’s absolutely no way…”

“I, I’ll try to stop her. It would be nice if we could talk it out, but I’m not sure if that’s possible.”

The facility personnel gathered in front of the elevator, the only entrance, to block Aria who was heading here without any resistance.

However, the people here were all researchers and administrators. With no weapons or fighters, Jeon So-hyeon eventually stepped forward.

“…I’ll try to reason with her.”

At that moment, Oh Yun-seo, who had finally recovered from the shock, grabbed Jeon So-hyeon’s arm. Seeing her desperate face, Jeon So-hyeon bit her lip, canceling what she was about to say.

“If anything goes wrong, we must stop her by any means necessary. That’s definitely not just some drug.”

Jeon So-hyeon glanced back. Clearly, that inner core contains powerful energy. However, she didn’t think that a mere Magical Girl could handle that legacy left by the Lord of Despair and Hatred who had inflicted damage on so many people, even if only for a moment.

Even if she was an S-class Magical Girl.

“The elevator is coming down. What should we do? If we stop it midway, we can buy time until support arrives.”

“…Then try to cut it off.”

One of the administrators came up with a clever idea. After all, they just needed to buy time. Eventually, under Oh Yun-seo’s decision, the elevator’s power was cut off, and it stopped in mid-air.

“This is.”

But Aria didn’t give up. Thunderous sounds and explosions echoed through the passage. The sound of something falling to the floor and creating chaos.

Soon, a grayish dust began to seep through the tightly closed elevator doors. No one relaxed their guard.

“Aria!”

Simultaneously, a bang was heard, and the thick iron door crumpled into a fist shape. Then Aria inserted her fingers into the twisted gap and forced the doors open with her strength.

Jeon So-hyeon shouted, but Aria ignored her as if she couldn’t hear, and finally succeeded in smashing and tearing off both doors.

And thus, the bloodied and battered Magical Girl who appeared, her crimson eyes gleaming in the smoke and darkness.

“The inner core left by Smalrilian. The one said to contain strong power. I need to eat it.”

“No. No, Eun… Aria. This isn’t right. Above all, you’ll be in danger.”

As planned, Oh Yun-seo stepped forward in front of Aria, who was staggering and mumbling blankly. Oh Yun-seo tried desperately to persuade Aria, but her voice didn’t reach Aria’s ears, which seemed somehow empty.

“I have to eat that to become stronger.”

“Why have you changed so much?”

Eventually, Jeon So-hyeon, who couldn’t stand by any longer, intervened. From Jeon So-hyeon’s perspective, she couldn’t understand her at all.

Clearly, the Han Eun-seo that Jeon So-hyeon remembered was a model student who would speak properly even with a knife to her throat.

“Changed?”

Aria smiled faintly upon hearing those words.

“I haven’t changed. I’ve just realized. The real justice, that is.”

“Real justice…?”

“That power is truth.”

Aria spoke as if chewing on the words. Everyone was surprised by that answer. It was a completely different ideology from what Aria, who usually valued order, had shown.

Moreover, the logic that power is everything was the logic of the entity that had been standing at the opposite end from her until now.

“You, what on earth…”

“I’m not wrong. That’s how this world flows. No, maybe the world has always been like this. It wasn’t justice and order being trampled by power. Power was justice and order all along.”

Aria shook her head, wiped the blood flowing down her face, and then clenched her fist wearing the blood-stained knuckles.

“So step aside. I won’t hesitate anymore.”

“Aria. If you could tell us what happened…”

“Be quiet, Director. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had to struggle this much.”

As Aria showed hostility beyond determination, Oh Yun-seo opened her mouth again, but this time Aria growled and bared her teeth towards Oh Yun-seo.

Oh Yun-seo, greatly shocked, staggered and trembled.

Seeing this, Jeon So-hyeon became enraged.

“I thought you at least had some manners towards adults, but now your behavior is a complete mess?”

“If you try to stop me, I’ll break through.”

Neither of them was willing to back down. Jeon So-hyeon, determined to stop her friend no matter what, and Aria, determined to break through, were both ready to seriously fight each other.

‘Can I win?’

Unlike her face glaring at her opponent with burning eyes, Jeon So-hyeon was internally calculating various things.

Honestly, the matchup wasn’t good. Her Pharma power was effective against darkness and demons, but it was difficult to see its effects against ordinary people.

“Ugh?!”

Meanwhile, Aria was overwhelmingly superior in personal training and combat experience. Even though she was injured, Jeon So-hyeon was instantly caught from behind by Aria.

“You, you’re seriously…”

Jeon So-hyeon’s legs trembled as she narrowly avoided the knuckles. It was a light jab, but if it had hit, it would have broken bones.

“Hiiik!”

Aria, with her mouth tightly shut and eyes gleaming, threw consecutive punches. Jeon So-hyeon sprayed a large amount of Pharma light and used the recoil to barely dodge the punches.

“Tsk. The opponent is definitely too unfavorable. It’s still unstable, but there’s no choice. Create a bead. I’ll help you.”

Gabi, looking down at Jeon So-hyeon sprawled on the floor, clicked her tongue and put the fox fire she had lit on her finger into her body.

‘Here it comes.’

Receiving that power, Jeon So-hyeon gritted her teeth and drew out her strength. This wasn’t simply handling Pharma power, but a unique technique cultivated by Gabi’s clan, the Yoho leader.

Gabi’s power was added to Jeon So-hyeon’s still imperfect power, burning hot.

‘…I’ll end this quickly.’

Seeing that sight, Aria decided to quickly finish things and kicked the ground. She aimed a kick at the fallen Jeon So-hyeon, intending to knock her unconscious.

“!”

However, that strike was blocked. Along with an eruption of blue flames, a lush black tail intercepted Aria’s attack.

“Fox.”

For the first time, Aria’s eyes wavered. The 9 tails swaying chaotically before her eyes were clearly extending from Jeon So-hyeon’s lower back.

“Things will be a bit different now!”

Jeon So-hyeon exploded with power and kicked the ground. It wasn’t just tails that had appeared. Sharp fangs and claws, as well as fox ears twitching on her head.

Temporarily, Jeon So-hyeon had created a fox bead within herself and become a fox spirit.

“Haah!”

An attack swinging not just the main body but all 9 tails as well. The target has to block over 10 places simultaneously.

And Aria couldn’t block them all in time.

Allowing several strikes to land, she spat blood and tumbled across the ground. The cracking sound was clearly that of already weakened bones breaking one after another.

‘Ugh, please come to your senses.’

Jeon So-hyeon frowned as she looked at her own blood-stained hands. She didn’t want to fight anymore. She only hoped that Aria would regain her senses.

“I… absolutely…”

However, the unfortunate truth was that right now, Aria was more in her right mind than anyone else.

“Huh. How on earth does that girl keep moving? How can she endure that pain with broken bones and torn muscles?”

To the point where even Gabi, who usually grumbled about Jeon So-hyeon’s lack of perseverance, was sincerely impressed, Aria got up again and took her stance. Though she looked like she would collapse at the slightest touch, Jeon So-hyeon gritted her teeth.

“That great willpower. Please use it for something else!”

Finally, with Jeon So-hyeon’s near-pleading shout, the two clashed once again. This time too, Jeon So-hyeon unleashed a barrage of attacks aimed at simultaneous strikes.

“Kuhuk…”

However, this time Aria managed to dodge all attacks by a hair’s breadth. Due to her inexperience, the attack pattern was fixed, and Aria had learned it by observing just once.

Gabi finally closed her eyes tightly as she saw Aria’s kick sink into Jeon So-hyeon’s body.

“No. Stop it!”

“It’s useless.”

While Jeon So-hyeon, who had retched, collapsed clutching her solar plexus, other employees who couldn’t bear to watch rushed in with whatever they could grab.

But Aria sent them tumbling with a gust of wind along with spraying blood.

Double and triple security measures safe from bombs and collapse. Those too were ultimately shattered and broken by Aria’s fist, which concentrated an extraordinary force at a single point.

Like the logic of power that Aria had come to speak of, all defense facilities were neutralized by force.

“Let go of this.”

“No. I absolutely can’t watch you go wrong.”

Just before extracting the Smalrilian core, Aria quietly spoke to Oh Yun-seo, who was clinging to her arm. But Oh Yun-seo absolutely wouldn’t let go.

“…It doesn’t matter. You can’t stop me anyway, Manager.”

Aria picked up the core with Oh Yun-seo dangling from one arm. And ignoring Oh Yun-seo, who was shouting in horror that she shouldn’t do it, she put it in her mouth and chewed.

“Ah…”

Oh Yun-seo sighed as she saw all the wounds on Aria’s arm that she was holding disappear in real-time.

“Heh, heheh.”

At the same time, Aria laughed without realizing it herself. The tremendous power she felt for the first time in her life boiling up in her body. Aria’s despair and hatred soon became power and burst forth.

Aria laughed while crying. Clear tears of blood flowed from her eyes, which were distorted as if laughing and crying.

“Aria…Aagh!”

Oh Yun-seo and the mascot Lulu were also thrown off by the erupting power and rolled on the floor.

A Magical Girl who absorbed the power of a monster above a certain level. In the history of fairies, one of the few fallen Magical Girls awakened, unleashing explosive power.

“…So. Are you satisfied now? Now that you’ve become stronger, do you want to exercise your rights?”

That’s when she appeared.

Taquilas’ eyes, slowly walking from the ruined elevator area, were genuinely furrowed with pity.