Chapter 20 – Descent (1)

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“Hmm, should I ask the old man to let me go on a subjugation expedition to Incheon next time…?”

-White?! You should call him Chairman, not old man! Even if the Chairman just laughs it off, that doesn’t mean it’s actually okay!

“But judging by his expression, he really didn’t seem to mind? He even said I could call him uncle if I wanted! Ah, of course, my only family is my sister, so I have no intention of doing that…”

-The Chairman, seriously… I’ve reported so many times that he shouldn’t be too soft on you…

“What was that, Pegasus?”

-Huh? Hero, what are you talking about? What did I say? Haha, you must be tired! Let’s wrap up today’s patrol and head to bed!

“I clearly saw you mention the Chairman just now, and you think deleting the chat log is going to hide it?”

Tonight felt unusually peaceful. Baek Jua thought so as she idly chatted with Pegasus.

From morning to night, nothing had happened that required her intervention.

If a magical girl needed to step in, it meant incidents like fires, traffic accidents, or people turning into monsters—events involving loss of life. So, the fact that she wasn’t needed was actually a good thing.

She understood that logically, but emotionally, she couldn’t accept it. Her dream was to become a shining hero, just like her sister.

A few days ago, a post comparing her to her sister had popped up in the community, making her long even more to become a hero like her.

And so, she quietly grumbled in her heart.

‘Would it hurt if something happened somewhere…?’

And the moment she thought that, her phone buzzed and rang urgently.

“Huh, what?! Deploy? Right now?”

She had wished for something to happen, but she hadn’t expected it to actually happen. Jua fumbled for a moment before quickly hardening her expression.

“Multiple monsters appearing across Seoul… Unable to determine exact numbers… Even Starlight has been detected…?!”

That could only mean one thing. Without hesitation, Radiant White transformed, kicked off the balcony railing, and soared into the sky.

Hoping that no one had been hurt.

The first scene of I Picked Up a Magical Girl was a battle between Zodiac, their underlings, and the magical girls, as they attacked Seoul.

The city wasn’t completely destroyed in the aftermath. But several high-rise buildings had collapsed, and many people had lost their lives in the disaster.

My plan? When the Zodiacs attacked, I’d slip in among them, make a grand entrance, make sure the world took note of my existence, and then stop Seoul from being completely wrecked.

I had no intention of preventing Zodiac’s attack. If I did that, I had no idea how the story would unfold.

Besides, I wasn’t here to play the hero and save the world. If I were, I would’ve just hunted down and killed all the Zodiacs as soon as I got here.

But that would be boring. No drama. No impact.

What I wanted was entertainment, and the story as I knew it was entertaining. So, I planned to let it unfold as intended.

I’d just trim out the bitter and unpleasant parts here and there. That much should be fine, right?

I justified it to myself as I looked down from the sky.

Seoul’s skyline… wasn’t really visible. The clouds covered parts of it. But even from up here, I could already see things exploding and flashes of light going off.

The explosions were from the rampaging monsters, and the shimmering lights were the magical girls.

Hmm, this messed up my plan a bit. I’d intended to make my entrance alongside the Zodiac, blending in as if I were one of them.

Would it still be possible to act as if I was on their side? Probably not. Well, not like I planned to befriend them anyway.

Maybe I should just pretend to belong to an independent faction. Since I’d already lied to Suhyeok, I might as well go all in and pretend to be Rabbit’s Foot.

That rabbit’s reaction is going to be priceless. Not that it even has facial expressions.

“Alright, let’s get started…”

I murmured as if making a vow, then wrapped myself in a crimson cocoon.

I knew it was inefficient, but for the sake of theatrics, I had no choice.

A crimson cocoon descending slowly from the sky in the midst of battle. And then, when the cocoon cracks open and I emerge… who wouldn’t turn their eyes toward me?

My plan was flawless. Grinning, I sealed myself inside the cocoon and began descending.

I couldn’t see much, but how exactly I was floating, I had no idea. Magical girls flew just fine without wings, after all.

If they could fly without wings, did wings even serve a purpose?

I could feel something leaking out more than usual, though.

Oh, so this is what it feels like when Starlight is being drained.

…Wait, seriously. I could fly just fine without wings?

Maybe it was because of the original owner of this body, but even though I was using up Starlight, I didn’t feel like I was running out at all.

It actually felt natural. Then why did I even have wings?

Just as I was beginning to doubt their necessity, I heard murmurs from below.

Someone—probably a magical girl—shouted, “What the hell is that cocoon?!”

Hmm, I must be reaching the right altitude. Peeking through a tiny gap, I confirmed it was time to make my entrance.

Alright, alright. My line… Haven’t forgotten it. Good.

Let’s do this.

Unfolding my crouched body, I tore through the cocoon, spread my wings wide, and shattered the remains—revealing myself to the world.

For a fleeting moment, everything fell silent.

I could feel it. My presence had overwhelmed them. They could only stare.

Even if brief, that silence was enough to carve my existence into the world.

Now, time for my entrance line.

“Tremble in fear. For I have descended upon this world.”

“That Starlight… A special-class monster?! At a time like this…!”

The first to snap out of it were two magical girls.

The blue-haired one was shouting, directing civilians to safety, while the pink-haired one took advantage of the moment to deliver punches and kicks to the monsters.

Seriously? Magical girls, brawling?

The monsters, finally recovering, abandoned their pursuit of civilians and turned their attention to Pink Hair, who was now blocking them.

“Where do you think you’re going? Your enemy is me!”

But she was clearly overwhelmed.

She must have been just some extra, considering I didn’t recognize her. And an extra magical girl wouldn’t stand a chance against this many monsters.

I wasn’t on the magical girls’ side, but letting someone get beaten up by a mob wasn’t exactly cool.

So, I decided to help—just a little.

Just as I was about to accelerate time for the monsters and impale them all with blood-spears, I noticed something.

I could use both acceleration and blood magic at the same time.

Why hadn’t I tried that before?

Probably because I’d never fought an opponent strong enough to warrant it.

But now I know. That was all that mattered.

Now, another question.

Would my blood magic operate at normal speed while time was accelerated?

Curious, I created a blood spear and hurled it at a monster’s head.

It was visibly slower than normal, but still much faster than the near-stationary monsters.

Good enough. No need to get my hands dirty.

I created blood spears equal to the number of monsters and skewered each one.

As soon as the last spear found its mark, time resumed its normal flow.

The result? A thunderous explosion of sound.

“KYAAAH?!”

…Guess the spears were faster than I thought. Hopefully, Pink Hair didn’t get caught in it.

Luckily, she emerged from the dust cloud, unharmed.

And so did the monsters—except their heads were missing.

“You dare look away? Your enemy is right here.”

Pink Hair hesitated, as if unsure whether I had saved her or simply wiped out an annoyance.

But soon, she made up her mind. Her fists ignited with pink stardust as she charged at me.

“Oh? You’re coming at me? I’ll let you go if you run now.”

“How could I possibly trust you?!”

“Hoh… I see…”

Even an extra-tier magical girl wouldn’t lose her resolve in the face of an unwinnable battle. That determination…

Yes. This is why I like magical girls. Their unwavering spirit, their sense of duty, their unbreakable will.

But…

“You’re far too weak to achieve that goal.”

Sometimes, knowing when to retreat is just as important.

“Urgh…!”

“You dare step into the domain of a dragon?”

I effortlessly dodged upward, then dove straight down, stomping her into the ground.

Ah, so wings weren’t completely useless. They helped control my movements in the air.

Well, that aside—what should I do with her now?

Even pinned down, she struggled, glowing with stardust, but in her current position, she couldn’t escape, let alone hurt me.

If I applied more pressure, something would snap. Maybe I should just knock her out and toss her to Sky Hair.

Speaking of, why wasn’t Sky Hair attacking?

“Your comrade is being trampled. Are you just going to watch?”

I pressed down a little harder, forcing a scream out of Pink Hair.

A coward, perhaps? Cowards don’t deserve power.

Guess I’d have to deal with her, too.

Just as I moved—

“Get your filthy foot off her—NOW!!!”

Ah, finally.

The main dish had arrived.

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