Chapter 10: The One Racing Toward Destruction

Blood-red eyes like the remains of a dead fetus.

Hair as white as bare bones.

A terrifying smile, like a beast delighted to see its prey.

“Haa… Haa…”

She opened her eyes.

“Ugh…”

Even after several days, Roja Alisa couldn’t forget that terrifying image.

The fear etched into her retinas, the form of Sanguine Obsidia, replayed over and over as a nightmare.

Roja Alisa was an ordinary girl.

A typical first-year middle school student, the kind you could find anywhere.

Well, not completely typical—she leaned more toward gloomy and quiet.

Her family members were alive and well, but merely being alive seemed to occupy all of their energy, leaving no room to care about the youngest daughter.

That was the kind of family they were.

That’s why she longed to escape.

Not from danger, but from peaceful, protected days.

A desire for liberation.

The kind of thoughts girls her age often had.

And not long after, that fantasy became reality.

After meeting a rabbit mascot named Lapin, Roja Alisa became a magical girl.

And then,

She realized reality was a nightmare.

“It hurts… It hurts…”

“Alisa, Alisa! You can’t close your eyes. Stay with me!”

The helplessness of not being able to move her own body.

The floating sensation as if only her soul were drifting.

In her dazed state, Alisa heard the panicked voice of the rabbit.

Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

Cold…

From the open hole in her abdomen, her blood flowed out along with her fading life.

Her intestines spilled and slipped out—

Roja Alisa was dying.

That terrifying murderer.

The one senior magical girls unanimously agreed was among the worst criminals of all time.

Sanguine Obsidia.

She met her.

And survived.

No matter the process, she felt relieved simply to have made it out alive.

But when she took her next step, Roja Alisa was betrayed.

A pitch-black spear of magical energy pierced through her back and jutted out of her stomach.

Along with the metallic pain—

“Are you awake?”

A gentle voice.

A small frame, round glasses, gray hair tied up, and a white lab coat.

It was Bistour Blanc of the Magical Girl Association’s hospital.

Alisa’s eyes darted around in panic.

White walls.

A soft bed.

The scent of antiseptic.

“Ow…!”

As she tried to sit up, pain shot through her abdomen, and she collapsed back down.

Fumbling with her hands, she checked her belly—

There was no hole, no sign her organs had spilled out.

Just soft, normal skin.

“You shouldn’t try to move. You’re not fully healed on the inside.”

Blanc pressed on Alisa’s stomach to check for abnormalities as she spoke.

“Even though I healed you with my magic, it doesn’t mean your digestive system or your stamina will come back right away.”

Well, a day or two should be enough, she added.

“T-Thank you, ma’am…”

Roja Alisa murmured shyly.

To the magical girls of the Association, Bistour Blanc, who could heal any wound, was practically a saint.

“Thank this one instead.”

The one she patted on the head was a rabbit crying silently.

Viscount Lapin Mercurius—Alisa’s partner.

They hadn’t known each other long, but he was a precious partner she could trust more than anyone.

“He stayed by your side all day to care for you. In that tiny body of his.”

“Alisa… I was so, so worried. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

The monocle covering Lapin’s left eye was so filled with tears his eye was no longer visible.

“Lapin…”

Alisa hugged the rabbit leaning into her and stroked him gently.

Soft, warm.

The fear receded.

The terrifying image of Sanguine Obsidia’s blood-red eyes, etched into her vision, began to fade.

“…Rest for today. I’ll come back tonight.”

With that, Blanc left the room.

Alisa hugged Lapin even tighter.

Because if she didn’t, she felt like her body would start trembling.

I have to overcome this. For Lapin’s sake. And for my own.

Clenching her teeth, Alisa endured the trembling that spread through her whole body.

***

“A sparring match?”

“Yes, Glacia Azure-sunbae!”

Glacia looked down at the girl before her.

A small girl with bright red hair, a red dress trimmed with white frills,

And a gentlemanly rabbit wearing a monocle perched on her shoulder.

Roja Alisa.

They said she barely survived an encounter with Sanguine Obsidia.

She seemed to have recovered quickly.

‘Is it mental strength? Or passion…?’

Materia, who had been nearly decapitated by Sanguine Obsidia, was still bedridden.

For a young girl, not a seasoned veteran like Glacia, it must have been an unbearably painful experience.

It wouldn’t be surprising if her spirit had been broken.

She should probably be in recovery for a while.

Maybe she’d even consider quitting as a magical girl altogether.

That’s why Glacia worried about Roja Alisa.

She’d heard this girl was in even worse condition than Materia.

She had demanded an explanation from Bistour Blanc, who had hesitated to speak.

A huge hole in her stomach.

Her organs spilling out.

She’d been brought in literally on the brink of death.

“Alisa, you don’t need to push yourself. It hasn’t been that long since you recovered. There’s no need to rush into combat or training.”

Glacia thought of another magical girl—one with a hoodie as her magical outfit.

Grau Raum.

A girl who wielded space barriers.

She had been around Alisa and Materia’s age, in her early teens,

A timid little sister-like presence.

And, because of Glacia’s misjudgment, she had essentially been sent to her death—killed by Sanguine Obsidia.

When Glacia woke up in her hospital room,

She wept, seeing her own reattached left arm,

And remembering the girl who never returned.

President Yo Ji-Hye had told her it wasn’t her fault.

More precisely, she said Glacia wouldn’t be held responsible.

The Association had misjudged the enemy’s power,

Had rushed to capture Sanguine Obsidia,

And suffered a shameful defeat.

That couldn’t be allowed to become public.

So it would be spun as a failure caused by how wicked and powerful Sanguine Obsidia was.

Because Glacia Azure was a veteran magical girl with name recognition, it was easier to feed that to the media—

Yo Ji-Hye had said bitterly.

But Glacia wished she had been blamed, disciplined.

So she vowed vengeance against Sanguine Obsidia.

And she couldn’t just leave Roja Alisa alone.

Those burning eyes.

“I’ll meet Sanguine Obsidia again.”

That firm determination.

“And I’ll ask her why. Why she deceived me and attacked me, why she hurt and killed others.”

She wasn’t like Glacia, nor like Materia.

She had a pure, unwavering resolve.

“And I’ll capture her. I’ll make her pay for her crimes. So please, sunbae. Teach me.”

Someone else who’s also been wounded by Obsidia—someone like you—I can ask you this.

Alisa swallowed those last words.

“Glacia unni.”

“Yes?”

“Call me unni. And let’s spar right now. If I’m going to teach you, I need to know how well you can use your unique magic and what your capabilities are.”

Alisa’s face lit up.

“I’m counting on you, dongsaeng.”

***

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”

Glacia panted.

Her tangled hair was singed in several places by magical flame, and the snowflake embellishments on her outfit had fallen off completely.

Her fairy mascot, Odette, dressed like a ballerina, was melting like an ice cream on a summer day.

“Hmmm.”

Yo Ji-Hye, the Association president, rubbed her chin as she watched.

The strongest magical girl in Korea, the Wizard in Violet.

Not a speck of dust was on her suit.

“Shall we stop here?”

“I can still go!”

Alisa shouted as she rose, knees shaking.

“You might be fully healed, but if either of you gets hurt again, Blanc will scold me…”

Still, Yo Ji-Hye activated her magic.

“Ow!”

Alisa tripped over a rock—or maybe nothing—and fell again. All Yo Ji-Hye had done was flick her finger.

The sparring match between Glacia and Alisa, which had been a passionate, heartwarming exchange between senior and junior on a grassy training field—

Turned into a hellish boot camp the moment Yo Ji-Hye showed up.

She’d just happened to catch sight of the two while sneaking out of work and thought it looked fun.

So she decided to “teach” her juniors a lesson.

To them, it was a borderline traumatic experience.

Especially with magic attacks clearly laced with the stress she’d built up from dealing with protestors and committee members.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

She dismissed the floating orb of magic above her head.

“Instead of hitting the orb, if you can land even one hit on me, anywhere at all, you win.”

“You won’t take that back, right?”

Glacia, as if waiting for this, activated her magic circles.

They had been hidden all over the training ground.

She triggered one beneath Yo Ji-Hye’s feet to form a sheet of ice.

“Oh?”

Then, as Yo Ji-Hye lifted herself slightly into the air to avoid it, Glacia activated six more.

Waves of cold energy shot out from the vertices of hexagonal formations.

“Not bad.”

She targeted Yo Ji-Hye’s legs. In an instant, they were frozen solid.

“Now, Alisa!”

“Yaaaaaaaah!!”

Acceleration.

And more acceleration.

Alisa’s magical girl specialty was speed.

That was it.

So she staked everything on that speed.

Gripping her scissors like a spear, she charged.

Faster, faster.

The sudden burst of speed made her close her eyes without realizing it.

CRACK—

The scissors struck Yo Ji-Hye’s barrier and sent out a shockwave.

“Haaaaaaah!”

Alisa pushed through. Sparks flew, cracks appeared, and the barrier shattered.

“…Huh?”

She opened her eyes, having pierced through the barrier with her scissors—

And saw nothing in front of her.

“I’m over here.”

“Yowch!”

A flick to the forehead from the right.

“You shouldn’t close your eyes while charging.”

Yo Ji-Hye ruffled Alisa’s hair as she scolded her.

“But for something you improvised, that combo wasn’t bad. Glacia, your trap placement and timing have improved too. You win.”

“Thank you… unni…”

With that last word, Glacia collapsed from exhaustion.

Better than I expected.

Though both Glacia and Yo Ji-Hye had been holding back, the result was satisfying.

Especially Roja Alisa—barely a magical girl yet recovering this fast?

And showing such eagerness to capture Sanguine Obsidia?

Maybe it was youth—maybe purity.

These two can cover one flank.

A map formed in her head.

A flawless net to catch Sanguine Obsidia.

If only Eclipse would join, it’d be even better…

But she was still short on people.

She shook her head as she thought of an old friend.

Sanguine Obsidia may be the most notorious criminal alive, but they couldn’t mobilize every magical girl just to catch her.

She had to squeeze the most out of what little manpower she had—and still hold off the increasingly aggressive monster appearances.

The demons.

The ones that had intelligence.

Their increased sightings… weren’t a good sign.

If only she were the Association president instead.

What honor or wealth was I even chasing when I took this damned job…

“Glacia unni!”

Alisa rushed over and gently laid Glacia flat.

“Oh no.”

She was in trouble now.

Blanc was going to kill her.

Glacia was completely unconscious.

There were bloodstains here and there too.

She could already picture Blanc scolding her:

“What the hell do you think you’re doing with a patient who just got out of the hospital?”

Wait. Maybe this was actually good?

Yo Ji-Hye suddenly felt a rush of happiness.

Blanc’s late-night nagging.

Her own tears from the stress and guilt of being Association president.

Blanc flustered, trying to comfort her.

And naturally…

Yes, that’s it for today.

With a lightened heart, Yo Ji-Hye walked over to Glacia and Alisa.