Ch.128Chapter 21. What a Magical Girl Must Do (4)

I thought it didn’t matter, but I think I wasn’t very good at thinking that way.

I worked at Noir Corporation because I couldn’t think that having good friends made everything okay. Even living in a world with magical girls, the concept of magic, and largely solved environmental problems, I was still full of complaints.

My questions about whoever threw me into this world were too big to just let everything go.

What could I do in this world? What did I need to do to prove myself?

What would I have to do to become a better person than the protagonist of this world?

“…”

Only now am I slowly realizing that none of those thoughts really mattered.

I was never a better person. I could never be greater. Compared to the reasons these magical girls fight, my reasons for fighting are extremely personal and emotional.

But.

“Consequences, you say?”

I gripped my hammer tightly.

The back of the hammer head split open, scattering intense energy. It wasn’t as powerful as the light sphere over there, but my energy wasn’t something to be easily dismissed either.

“If anything, you’re the one who’ll face consequences.”

Even inside the ship, I could hear the sound of wind.

It wasn’t coming from outside. That gust was created by my movement.

The chairman, standing far away, suddenly appeared close. Blinding light began to consume my vision—

Thud.

My hammer stopped midway.

Unlike in the bridge earlier, it seems the chairman wasn’t a fake this time. Otherwise, there would be no reason to block my hammer.

“How foolish.”

The chairman’s voice was filled with anger.

“Did you think we wouldn’t prepare any countermeasures while dealing with you? That’s rather disappointing.”

Despite pushing my hammer forward with all my strength, it was gradually being pushed back. As if blocked by something solid and invisible.

It was the flow of light.

A light so bright it was hard to believe it was refined from despair.

Countless light streams were flowing from that mass of light.

My hammer was being pushed back, caught on one of those fluttering light streams—a thin pillar of light.

“You all… Right. I suppose killing you would be problematic. Your energy is fascinating too. If you had just continued being the Federation’s dogs without knowing anything, I wouldn’t have been able to touch you, but now the Federation is holding back as if saving their own skin. They must be wondering which side will win, which energy will prove superior.”

The chairman reached out his hand toward me as if to touch under my chin—

Chomp.

And those fingertips ended up right in my mouth.

“What!?”

The chairman immediately tried to pull his hand away, apparently not expecting me to do something like that, but I had already clenched my jaw.

Crunch.

A bizarre sound came from between bone and teeth.

“Eek, eeek!?”

In the end, I couldn’t bite off the chairman’s finger. But the finger forcibly pulled from between my teeth was stained bright red. No blood flowed. It was only for a moment.

Or maybe the blood wasn’t visible because the skin was red. Well, at least I couldn’t taste blood in my mouth.

Ptooey.

Either way, having someone else’s body part in my mouth wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

As I spat, my vision inverted.

The air rushed out of my lungs so I couldn’t even scream. Something large and heavy seemed to slam into my stomach, sending me flying backward and rolling across the floor.

What followed was a barrage of light beams.

As if he had been watching magical girls fight many times and prepared accordingly, magic like what Ju-a used rained down from above. Jihye quickly jumped between us to block the magic.

“This has gotten much more complicated than expected.”

Rose clicked her tongue and rushed forward.

The chairman clearly had no intention of fighting alone. The floor opened up, and the walls split. No monsters poured out, but various equipment emerged from within.

The light beams pouring from above were all coming from gun-like devices.

While Ju-a fired at them one by one to keep them in check, Dalia and Delphinium blew up obstacles near Rose who had gone ahead.

“Ugh…”

I forced myself to get up and assessed the situation.

“Jieun!?”

As I started to rise, Hayun called out and quickly ran over. With Hayun’s support, I managed to stand up—

“…That’s.”

“It’s magic. Magic using powerful energy. If each of you can exert that much power with individual energy, what kind of power could someone who has extracted the energy of so many Earth people wield?”

James said.

“Huh.”

Armor covered the chairman’s body.

At first glance, it looked like plate armor, but seeing the powerful energy and the chairman’s body connected by something like freshly spun silk, it wasn’t simple plates but something woven with threads.

Armor made purely of magical power.

Considering how the magical power surrounding our bodies blocks impacts, it’s hard to even imagine how powerful that armor must be.

“Ugh.”

Moreover, I clearly understood from the hit I just took why we needed to be careful of the chairman beyond just the armor.

Just as the armor was powerful because it was made purely of magical power, each attack, whatever it was, was also strong.

“Jieun…”

Hayun looked at me with worried eyes.

I stared intently at Hayun’s face for a moment.

“…Jieun?”

Hayun asked in confusion.

I reached out one hand and pulled Hayun close by the waist.

“Ah.”

Hayun made that sound as she was pulled toward me. So cute.

Pink hair and pink eyes. If I had seen someone like this in my world, I would have thought their appearance was too extreme.

But Hayun, whom I met in this world, wasn’t like that. A nearly perfect girl, with no part that could be considered too extreme.

And strangely enough, this perfect girl couldn’t bring herself to abandon me, someone who was lacking in so many ways.

“Jieun…”

Even realizing what I was thinking, Hayun didn’t run away. Instead, she lifted her face toward me and blushed.

“Is this okay?”

Power.

I needed power.

I still couldn’t understand exactly what kind of power it was, and even after hearing Hayun and Jihye’s explanations, I couldn’t be certain, but anyway—my power blazed intensely every time I kissed one of the girls.

Whether it was because of base desire or, as Hayun claimed, because of love, I couldn’t tell.

Even if it was because of love, it still meant I couldn’t simply be a good person.

I pulled Hayun strongly toward me and pressed my lips against hers.

Even in this situation, and after everything we’d been through, the feeling of kissing remains intensely vivid. So vivid that it feels almost disconnected from the surrounding situation.

After our bodies briefly pressed together, I stepped back a little.

I could feel my heart racing. Even though we’d been friends for so long. Hayun seemed to feel the same way, her face very red.

But that face was smiling. Brightly.

The staff in Hayun’s hand glowed. Her pink light sword was burning almost dangerously bright.

“…Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Hayun responded cheerfully to my words.

Even in this situation.

It must be because she doesn’t know what I’m thinking. I couldn’t tell what expression Hayun would show when we talked after everything was over.

But, for now, it doesn’t really matter.

Winning is the most important thing right now.

The complicated human relationships that would follow wouldn’t matter if there was no stage for those relationships to continue on.

Let’s do what magical girls should do.

Here, protecting Earth was what magical girls were supposed to do.

*

Hayun always had anxiety in her heart.

The anxiety that the person she loved might not love her as much as she loved them.

Anyone might have such thoughts, but not everyone can completely cut off such thoughts.

Hayun enjoyed being with Jieun. Being with other friends, her magical girl colleagues, was quite fun too, but it wasn’t the same feeling she had when she was with Jieun.

Just being beside her made Hayun feel comfortable, somehow reassured that everything would be okay no matter what happened.

She was always happy to meet outside of school, and when they played together, she hated having to go home.

Perhaps because of this, Hayun had been having bad thoughts lately.

The thought that she wanted the time living together to continue forever.

And that thought was essentially the same as wishing this situation would never end.

Surely Hayun’s parents were worried about her at home. Though they had minimal contact for safety reasons, Hayun knew her parents loved her in their own way.

But despite that, the person Hayun always wanted was Jieun.

As a friend when they were very young. As a friend she always wanted to play with, just the two of them.

And after realizing her feelings—

That’s why Hayun’s heart nearly jumped out of her mouth when Jieun put an arm around her waist.

They had kissed several times already, but Jieun rarely approached her first.

So regardless of the situation, she was just happy.

Because it seemed like Jieun had accepted the situation and accepted that this gave her strength.

It felt like after this was over, she could maintain this kind of relationship with Jieun forever.

“…I see.”

Hayun whispered quietly to herself.

So this situation needed to have a “happy ending.”

Everyone needed to return safely for the story to continue afterward.

Hope felt close enough to grasp.

*

Light and light traced trajectories.

Both the magical girls and their opponent who used the power of despair used light as power.

White and white, and various other colorful lights.

If there was one color that stood out the most, it was pink light.

Not simply because it was an eye-catching color. It was because the color following that pink light was also white.

A pure white light like untouched first snow, contrasting with the white light sphere in the middle of the vast space. It would be strange if the colored light following that light didn’t stand out.

“Ugh!?”

The opponent who had been full of confidence just moments ago was barely blocking the attacks, as if unsure how to respond to such intense movements.

“You’ve never learned how to fight before, have you?” asked the black-haired girl incredulously.

“You…!”

“Well, I guess that makes sense for someone who’s never been at the bottom. Looking at how you make those production plans, you’ve probably never cared about or been able to empathize with people below you.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Clang.

The chairman deflected the hammer shaft with a long sword and shouted.

“If a minority suffers some disadvantages so the rest can live well, that’s a necessary sacrifice!”

“That might be true if that minority couldn’t pick up weapons and fight back. I’ll admit that.”

This world isn’t perfect.

Even with the concept of justice, it doesn’t reach everyone.

But.

“Feel free to talk about pigs and cattle all you want.”

The black-haired girl, Jieun, said with a smile.

Dark circles of fatigue marked the skin under her eyes, and small cuts and scrapes covered her skin. Her white dress was similarly stained red and black, making it somewhat difficult to call her a magical girl from a children’s cartoon, even as a joke.

But at the same time.

That face, that face full of competitive spirit and smiling, strangely shone white.

“Unfortunately, they can’t negotiate with us, can they? Besides, these days there’s talk about cultured meat and animal rights. Above all—”

The girl raised her hammer.

With a confident posture suggesting she could smash everything, that she was fully capable of doing so.

“—they can’t become magical girls.”

Just before bringing down the hammer, the girl tilted her head slightly to the side.

“Oh, come to think of it, the same goes for you all.”

And the girl smiled as if enjoying herself, then brought the hammer down with all her might.

Bang!

Once again, the hammer stopped in mid-air, unable to break through the white armor.

But the girl seemed to know this would happen, raising and bringing down the hammer again and again. As if she would never tire.

Crack, crunch.

And the common sense that the person in white armor had believed in began to crumble bit by bit.

“T-this, this can’t be happening!”

“Of course it can.”

Jieun said.

“Why do you think there are so many monsters loaded on this ship?”

Bang.

“And you’ve released all those monsters.”

Bang.

“Naturally, the power this ship was supposed to have can’t be intact.”

“Plus you’ve used that power to make that armor.”

The vivid pink that had been following the white light appeared.

That face too bore a bright smile, as if something was making her very happy.

The pink sword slowly advanced.

“Wait…!”

As the chairman shouted and tried to get up, a giant hammer fell on top of him.

Thud!

“Gugh!?”

As the chairman was forced back to the floor, the sword moved in that interval.

Tock.

The thin, silk-like strands connecting the chairman’s armor to the light sphere were cut one by one along the path of the sword.

A beautiful sound like playing a stringed instrument with thin strings could be heard.

One by one, as the strands were cut, the light from the chairman’s armor gradually disappeared.

Bang!

Crack.

And as those strands disappeared, the gash in front of the chairman’s body grew larger.

Bang!

And once more, as the hammer was brought down with all its might—

“Gahk!?”

Blood gushed from the chairman’s mouth. Bright red blood, completely different from the finger seen earlier.

“This is what happens when you try to do such things with someone else’s power.”

Jieun said.

“This energy, and this ship, none of it is really yours, is it? Be honest. You originally wanted to research more, right? The circuits, the ship—you wanted to research more, find more data, and make it truly yours.”

Jieun taunted the chairman who was gritting his teeth, bleeding, and glaring at her.

The surrounding situation was being resolved.

The purple magical girl was calmly sniping and destroying long-range weapons one by one, while the green magical girl was blocking mechanical arms rushing in from all directions.

The other magical girls were doing the same. The sound of breaking machinery filled the air.

“…Give up. At least you won’t die.”

“Nonsense.”

All other words were tolerable.

Even the foot stepping on him. Compared to what the chairman had been through, it was nothing.

Even the contemptuous words. He had heard them many times before when being compared to others.

But the words telling him to give up were intolerable.

How could he, after coming this far?

How could he, after waiting all those long years to get here—

—Yes, in the end, it’s because of that girl.

She suddenly appeared, efficiently extracting power from the despair circuit, and because of her, the chairman’s research methods had to change.

She made the Federation extremely wary of magical girls, and furthermore, made them hesitate to buy the technology.

The end of trading relationships with countries they had been doing good business with was just a bonus.

So.

“…Yes, it is all your fault.”

“Huh?”

The magical girl with black hair blinked at the chairman’s suddenly calm voice.

“So, yes. I’ll have to kill at least you. If everything’s failed anyway.”

The chairman smiled and used the sword in his hand to cut his own body.

The part where Jeong Jieun was stepping on.

*

“Hey, wait!?”

I quickly swung my hammer, but the chairman’s lower body had already been cleanly severed.

Blood didn’t gush out. Perhaps the sword the chairman was holding could control even its temperature.

The upper body, separated from the lower half, writhed and moved even in a situation where death from shock due to pain wouldn’t have been surprising.

No matter how accustomed magical girls were to fighting on battlefields, they couldn’t help but be momentarily shocked by such a gruesome scene.

In that interval, the chairman moved something.

“…Ah!”

With a chilling sensation like falling, my feet lifted off the ground.

“Did he turn off the gravity module!?” Cherry shouted.

Before I could find my center of balance, the chairman placed both hands on the floor.

And pulled hard, as if pulling his body.

Both Hayun and I, who were nearby, reacted too late.

Before we could do anything, the chairman had already been sucked into the light sphere.

The first thought that came to mind was.

Monster.

Yes. Monster.

I don’t know how Earth human monsters are created.

But at least, there was already a theory about why aliens become monsters.

Those whose bodies were transformed by overwhelmingly powerful magical energy.

Then, what would happen if an alien entered something that was itself a mass of magical energy?

What kind of outcome would there be—

Before I could reach any conclusion in my mind, black cracks appeared in that white sphere with a cracking sound.

For a moment, all the lights in the room flickered.

Beyond that, something terrible was trying to emerge.