Ch.127Chapter 21. What a Magical Girl Must Do (3)

In a fight, numbers themselves can become a form of violence.

Even if individual abilities are inferior to some other being, as long as the total combined power exceeds the stronger side by a sufficient margin, the side with greater numbers can win.

…That is, if their total combined power is greater.

I hear the sound of metal striking metal. It’s the sound of massive chunks of metal with strange cores colliding—cores whose design I can’t fully comprehend, and truthfully, couldn’t be fully understood by anyone except certain specific species.

The sound reminds me of a blacksmith hammering steel to forge a blade.

Then comes an enormous crash that seems too loud to be merely flesh hitting the floor, and one of the massive computer terminals, steel plates, or tiles in this bridge shatters into pieces.

The laws of physics differ somewhat from human imagination—no, as a magical girl, perhaps it’s my imagination that differs from the laws of physics?

Or maybe it’s because this massive ship is gradually entering zero-gravity space, but when a kaijin is slammed forcefully into the floor or ceiling, the ship’s nose doesn’t suddenly swing to one side.

What initially looked like windows when we first entered no longer properly display the cosmos.

Like when you punch a monitor with all your might, ugly white lines stretch across the display, and wherever we, the kaijin, or torn-out computers collide, the image inverts into eerie colors.

It’s as if the universe itself has shattered into pieces.

Thinking about it that way, it doesn’t seem entirely ugly anymore.

“Haa, haa…”

Despite generating and using so much power, I was gradually becoming exhausted.

The hammer that I normally wielded as if it were weightless was slowly becoming heavier, my movements becoming duller.

Yet somehow, these kaijin keep appearing from somewhere.

A sword made of light slashes through the air, making a strange sound as it cuts through space. If the light were truly like a laser, swinging it wouldn’t make such a sound.

“Jieun, are you okay?”

Hayun descended beside me as she spoke.

She had already taken down several kaijin. Burly Earth-humans were already sprawled across the floor. We had neither the equipment to restrain them all nor the time to do so.

There were still about thirty kaijin visible, and the wall from which they kept pouring out remained open.

Inside, people were hanging like meat in a butcher shop. They weren’t actually impaled on metal skewers, but rather tightly bound in metal restraint spheres. Still, there were so many that the sight looked grotesque.

How many—

…No, it couldn’t be.

“This ship.”

I muttered while looking up at the kaijin. Jihye landed near me and deployed a barrier. The kaijin swung their fists at it, determined to break through, but it would hold for a moment.

“What kind of energy powers this ship?”

“Well, obviously the circuit— Oh.”

Hayun froze mid-answer, her mouth slightly open.

“What is it?”

Jihye asked somewhat urgently. Cracks were forming in the barrier.

“If it’s the circuit, all these guys here have one.”

I said, looking beyond the barrier.

“You don’t mean all these kaijin are…”

Jihye seemed to understand what I meant, her face turning somewhat pale.

Yes.

Why would they keep so many artificial kaijin on this ship? They could be specimens, or perhaps mass-produced units created in advance.

But.

I looked again at where the kaijin were restrained.

The front row comes forward and remains bound for quite some time, only being released when we’ve defeated all the other kaijin.

This suggests that this place isn’t meant for releasing kaijin but for putting them back in.

“Wait.”

“Wh-what?! Jieun?!”

When I picked up Jihye, she quickly cried out and wrapped her arms around my neck. Hayun watched us with wide eyes before plunging her blade into the circuit of a kaijin that broke through the barrier.

“Let’s go inside there.”

“Huh?”

Hayun was momentarily confused by my words.

“But in there…”

“If I’m right, they won’t be able to rampage in there.”

If this ship were simply for production purposes, my theory might be wrong.

But unlike the current chairman Pang Pang, the former chairman had much grander dreams.

If so, this ship isn’t just for ‘production.’ It’s certainly not just for ‘storage’ either, but rather for ‘utilizing’ the kaijin somehow.

Because they’re trying to use these beings, each containing a circuit that generates tremendous energy.

“Can you trust me?”

When I asked Hayun, she looked momentarily confused but then took a deep breath and smiled gently.

“Of course.”

“Great. Everyone!”

The girls glanced at me when I called out.

“Follow me!”

I shouted and started running.

Thinking about it again, the ship still had gravity despite being in space. I’ve never been on a spaceship, so I don’t know if this is normal or not.

…Anyway, breaking the ship itself should tell us.

Actually, my objective had already changed the moment we entered here.

Not just to defeat the current chairman, but to destroy all the former chairman’s goals as well.

Deliberately causing someone pain for the sake of a bright future doesn’t sit well with me, at least by my standards.

Besides, I’ve been in that position myself.

“Jihye, I need your help.”

I said, lightly pressing my lips against her cheek. “Ah?!” Hayun let out a sound that somehow seemed indignant.

But this is the best option right now. Both Jihye and I gain strength from this kind of action.

Though I still don’t quite understand why.

“O-okay!”

With her face flushed red, Jihye extended one hand forward.

I soared upward powerfully, with Hayun following closely behind.

I flew in an arc toward where the girls were scattered.

Ju-a, Rose, Dalia, Delphinium. As I rushed forward, pushing back the kaijin with Jihye’s barrier, the girls followed behind me one by one.

The pursuing kaijin fell behind due to Ju-a’s gunfire and Dalia and Delphinium’s magic.

It wasn’t without interference. But since our goal was to pass through rather than destroy everyone, there was no reason to prolong the fight.

“Let’s go!”

Inside the open wall.

A place where the only light was a dim red glow.

We leaped inside.

*

The kaijin’s pursuit subsided.

The door hadn’t closed, so when I looked back, I could still see the light from the bridge, but there were no kaijin following us.

…Kaijin are living beings too. They’re entities that move primarily by ‘instinct.’ Their instincts are so powerful that they don’t listen to other commands, which is why they can only be used by releasing them near a target.

That’s probably why neither the former nor current chairman thought of selling them as weapons. Though it seems the current chairman did at least experiment with the possibility.

The reason they don’t come in here might be fear.

If the kaijin densely bound here are truly restrained to utilize their energy, they can’t be knocked unconscious.

To extract the emotion of despair, they must continuously experience rock bottom in an environment where they absolutely cannot give up.

“…”

The sound of breathing around us is chilling.

I wasn’t the only one who thought so; the girls gradually became less talkative. Even Jihye, who had initially been relieved that no more kaijin were following us, and Rose, who had been cheering about our success—everyone fell silent.

“…What is this?”

Hayun muttered dejectedly.

Another possibility.

A ‘producible’ emotion that doesn’t depend on someone’s will—completely opposite to the method discovered by the Federation.

Was this setting in the original webtoon too?

Did they include this setting to refute the joke people made about the energy used by the company being much more efficient and better?

“This is horrific.”

Dalia’s words expressed what we were all thinking.

Though no one was chasing us from behind, we moved forward as if being pursued, until we found an empty space.

Beyond that empty space, there were still many kaijin hanging, but the place seemed to be some kind of management hall, empty except for control panels of unknown purpose.

We decided to rest there for a moment.

I sat down heavily in a spot where the kaijin’s breathing was as inaudible as possible.

Thanks to the circuit’s influence, I wasn’t about to collapse yet, but I was exhausted both physically and mentally.

We obviously hadn’t had time to bring food or drinks on our way here.

All that remained was determination. The determination to finish this definitively and return to Earth.

“…”

Everyone sat on the floor or leaned against the wall, lost in thought.

Even James and Cherry, who had faithfully followed us, had nothing to say.

“…Cherry.”

Disliking the silence, I spoke to Cherry.

“The Federation is also building generators, right?”

“Yes.”

As if there was nothing left to hide, Cherry simply answered.

“Those generators are powered by magical girls… or heroes or superhumans, as other countries call them.”

“Yes. It’s not complete yet, but when it is, that’s how it will work.”

Hayun closed her eyes.

I didn’t like the idea of using magical girls that way. That’s only natural. It means one of my close friends would have to become the one powering that generator.

But at least, it wouldn’t be like these kaijin.

I feel a bit confused.

“Is there a reason you need to extract energy to such extremes?”

“…”

Cherry remained silent for a moment, then slowly began to speak.

“How much do you know about the history of the Galactic Federation?”

“Just what’s in the textbooks.”

“Then you’ve learned about how many wars there were throughout the galaxy before the Federation was formed? And that there were powerful empires before that too.”

I had learned about it. Of course, like ancient Egyptian history in world history class, it felt so distant—no, actually it was the story of an ancient civilization far older than that, so it didn’t really resonate with me.

“They say that in those times, they had technology that could utilize stars or black holes. Of course, these weren’t facilities that could be casually created for everyday use. They must have been magnificent structures that required thousands of years or more to build, with an entire civilization’s fate at stake. The empires built such structures at their centers and connected their territories with physical constructions.”

By common sense, this sounds impossible. A structure that envelops a star would itself have gravity, so building such a structure that could withstand its own gravity for thousands of years while completely surrounding a star?

Even buildings constructed on Earth often leave only traces after being abandoned for hundreds of years, yet they built these massive structures, countering the influence of stars, over thousands of years.

…And if there were ‘structures’ that could travel between planets or stars, that too would be an impossible story.

Of course, if ‘magic’ enters the logic, the story might change.

“…But that empire disappeared. Long ago. Like all other empires. The empire itself actually existed, but those structures remain only in stories, and the evidence is scarce.”

So it’s an exaggerated story from the beginning.

If such massive structures existed in space, there would be evidence even after tens of thousands of years.

Well, if they were abandoned for too long and destroyed by the gravity of stars or black holes, I have nothing to say.

“So, why are you bringing this up?”

“Whether it existed or not, what if we could create a generator small enough for you to hold that could produce energy on the scale of those structures?”

“That would be…”

That would be, yes, incredible.

“What could we do with such immense energy? We don’t know yet. But that’s always the case with energy sources, isn’t it? When they’re first discovered, no one can imagine their potential… Perhaps, if we could secure enough of them, we might be able to recreate those mythical stories in our time.”

Cherry’s gaze shifted.

As if saying, ‘But…’

Yes. But.

Is it really okay to create such energy while enduring so many sacrifices?

Building a civilization by plunging someone into extreme pain, and then continuing to sacrifice people for thousands or tens of thousands of years to maintain that civilization.

Can that be considered right?

Besides, it’s not like the entire universe is facing an energy crisis right now.

Even Earth has resolved many environmental issues since contact with the Federation, and more will be resolved in the future. Do we need to be so greedy?

I looked at James this time.

“Why are you already doing this? If you’re going to reverse entropy, you could be more patient. It’s not like the universe is about to end right now.”

“…What if this opportunity is the only one we have?”

“The only one?”

In response to my question, James looked up at me with gleaming eyes.

“What if we, living in this time, are the only ones who could come up with this idea? In the distant future, if civilization collapses for whatever reason like the ancient empires and needs to be rebuilt from scratch, will the planet Earth, will humans still exist? In the 900 trillion years the universe will last, the period during which civilization continues is but a fleeting moment.”

“…”

“Then, those who have conceived such ideas must accomplish as much as possible when there’s even a slight possibility. Ideally, if we could reverse entropy right away, that would be best.”

It still sounded like something only madmen would say.

If the Federation dreams of a brilliant golden age, the company side seems to aspire to some religious ideal.

And, from my perspective, neither side appealed to me.

“So, what do you two think?”

I asked James and Cherry.

“Do you think our fight is meaningless? Are you planning to somehow extract energy from Earth humans and achieve your goals anyway?”

I understand why the Federation and Noir Corporation seemed strangely in sync.

They didn’t want to hand over their technology to each other, but at the same time, they desired each other’s technology.

The current chairman of Noir Corporation was just particularly blinded by immediate profit.

“…”

Neither James nor Cherry answered.

I expected as much. In the end, both of them probably think they need to fight.

Whatever their ultimate goal, if this ship is taken, James’s objective vanishes. And as James said, once an opportunity is missed, it might take eons before another chance arises—before someone crazy enough to say such things gains power again.

The Federation government will fracture. Those who can better utilize Earth humans will take control, and the entire Earth might become like some mining site. Except the resource being mined won’t be ore, but Earth humans.

Either way, it’s something that would be detested by anyone, regardless of which side holds power.

That’s one fortunate thing, at least.

I thought bitterly.

*

After resting briefly to recover from fatigue, we got up again.

Here, we don’t know what time it is or how far we’ve flown.

How far can my warping ability reach? Can we return to Earth?

Such worries are already pointless now.

In the end, there’s only one thing we can and must do.

“…Is this it?”

And so, we reached the end of the corridor.

The door-like section was firmly closed. The path here wasn’t particularly complex. There were some winding sections in the middle, but as if this were truly a fuel storage area, there was only one path.

The kaijin, which initially seemed countless, gradually decreased in number as we came here, and now there were many empty spaces in the air.

Perhaps they had planned to fill this place with kaijin.

“…Let’s go through.”

At my words, the girls nodded.

Cherry and James operated the control panel beside us to open the door.

Is the chairman the only being on the ship? Even if there are experts, they’re certainly not on the level of Cherry and James.

Slowly, the door opened, and bright light poured out from beyond.

Squinting at the light, I looked ahead—

“…A star?”

Hayun murmured blankly.

It wasn’t like the sun. Instead of a surface that bubbled like lava, it looked like someone had taken the light from a white LED and molded it into a sphere.

And we instinctively knew.

That this energy was created through the numerous kaijin stored on this ship.

Clap, clap, clap.

The sound of mocking applause echoed.

“How impressive.”

In an equally mocking voice, the chairman spoke.

Beneath the star-like sphere, a red-skinned woman slowly walked toward us.

“I’ll give you credit for making it this far. You’ve seen the most important part of this ship.”

I gripped my weapon tightly.

“But I’ve been making my own preparations too.”

The chairman looked up at us as she spoke.

Her attitude showed no intention of negotiating or continuing the dialogue.

“…If you had just run away, you could have lived peacefully. No, that’s not right. Since you’re magical girls, you would have hated our goals anyway. In that case—”

The chairman grinned at us.

“I’ll just have to eliminate any potential mercy in advance.”