Ch.313IF Side Story: From the Beginning (81)

Fighting with just one hand while holding something in the other isn’t an easy task.

Obviously, it’s much easier to wield something with both hands than with just one. Especially when you’re swinging around a massive hammer that belongs on a construction site like I am.

But Jihye was right.

Whether the glowing generator was affecting our circuits somehow, or conversely, our circuits were influencing the mana to help us—even wielding my weapon with just one hand, I could strike my opponents much faster and more effectively than usual.

About six more Kaijin had entered. But we had one more Magical Girl on our side. Considering that Hayun and I had taken down four of them earlier without the generator, the three of us could definitely handle six.

BANG!

I turned toward the loud noise to see Jihye blocking a Kaijin’s punch with her shield. The Kaijin that had thrown the punch seemed quite bewildered, staring at its own hand.

Jihye couldn’t bring herself to hit people.

That’s not an easy thing to do. Even knowing your opponent won’t die, if you’ve never hit someone before, it’s natural to feel aversion to such violence.

Your arm might lose some strength when swinging a weapon, or you might find it difficult to swing with all your might. Or your body might tremble so much that you can’t put any strength into it.

That was probably the case for Jihye too, but she was doing well.

At least she wouldn’t get hurt. Actually, about two Kaijin were rushing at her, which made fighting easier for our side.

Still, I should help her. Just keeping them occupied isn’t enough.

CLANG!

I jumped up and struck the back of a Kaijin’s head with my hammer. This won’t kill it. It’s a Kaijin, after all. If they don’t die even when I smash a Combatant’s helmet, a Kaijin certainly won’t die.

“Hayun!”

“Yeah!”

When I called out to Hayun, she looked at me. I tossed the generator to her. Hayun caught it smoothly with one hand and tucked it under her arm like a football player.

The white glowing generator didn’t lose its light.

Hayun’s staff shone even brighter.

I gripped my hammer with both hands.

“Alright. Let’s see who wins.”

I’m not sure who I was talking to, even as I muttered to myself. Probably directed at Noir Corporation.

Creating a fake family I never had to deceive me, threatening innocent people at the orphanage, and capturing my friend.

Right.

I don’t think I’m completely innocent either.

But still, I’m angry. So angry that I can’t control it. So for now, I’ll deal with the enemies rushing toward us however I can.

And after that.

Well, there’s only one thing left to do.

Somehow, I need to investigate Noir Corporation.

And to create a “conclusion” that wasn’t in the original story—so they can never bother us again.

…It’s a self-righteous thought. After all, I’m not considering my own rights and wrongs.

But I didn’t come to this world with the intention of being righteous. No, I never intended to come here at all.

So it’s the fault of whoever put me here, right?

*

“What about the people?”

Seo-hee asked, standing in the complex that was collapsing and burning everywhere.

We could at least breathe. If we tried to hold out for too long, even Magical Girls would eventually be in danger, but still, it was incomparable to other people’s “bare bodies.” Actually, we might even have advantages over firefighters with heat-resistant suits and oxygen tanks.

But even so, there were only four Magical Girls. No matter how much we moved around with magic, putting out fires and clearing debris, the complex was too large and complicated to handle the fires that kept reigniting everywhere, as if some chemical substance had leaked.

“I’m not sure. We don’t even have a count of how many people are trapped inside… It seems like most of the Earth people have gotten out, but I don’t know about the aliens.”

Yeonwoo answered Seo-hee’s question.

“…Is there no other way than just wandering around aimlessly?”

Ju-a asked.

“…”

Chaeyeon was silently waving her staff to create magic. Thanks to the artificial rain falling from the sky, they could at least prevent the flames from spreading too much.

School time had already passed, but such thoughts had long disappeared from their minds.

“This is strange. Even though this isn’t Seoul, if they were flying, they should have arrived by now.”

“Could something have happened at headquarters?”

Hearing Seo-hee and Yeonwoo’s conversation, Ju-a immediately pressed her communicator.

“…Jieun?”

She called cautiously, but there was no answer.

“Jieun?!”

She called out louder, but—

[Ah… Oh, sorry! It’s a bit busy here!]

—before her worry could deepen further, an answer came back.

“We’re busy here too—did something happen?”

[Sorry. Things are starting to get sorted out now. Once everything’s settled, I’ll come over and explain. …How are things there?]

“I’m not sure. We might not be able to finish today.”

They still didn’t know the cause of the explosion. They couldn’t tell if there had been one big explosion inside, or if a series of explosions had caused all this.

Such things could only be determined after all the fires were extinguished.

The communication was briefly cut off.

“…”

The Magical Girls were silent for a moment, then looked at each other and nodded.

“Alright. Let’s focus on what we need to do for now. Since Jieun said that—”

[Ah, it’s done.]

But before Seo-hee could finish speaking, a voice came from the other side.

It sounded breathless, but somehow refreshing.

[We’ve resolved everything. Good. I’ll be there soon. With Hayun, Cherry, and Jihye.]

“Ah, okay.”

The call ended again.

When flying at high speed, it’s naturally a bit awkward to communicate. Though magic controls the wind so wind noise doesn’t interfere with communication, there’s always the risk of colliding with flying birds, drones, or other flying objects.

Especially if those flying objects have people in them.

“Wait a minute.”

Only after the communication ended did Ju-a quickly speak up.

“Did she just say ‘Jihye’?”

“…”

They could only tilt their heads in confusion, having no idea what was happening with the Magical Girls on the other side.

*

Not long after, Lily appeared in the sky.

Not just Lily, but Blossom too.

But there was also another person, a Magical Girl unknown to people.

A girl wearing a green one-piece dress, holding a large shield in one hand.

Delphinium, who had been flying through the sky creating artificial rain, was startled when she saw the girl.

Lily immediately flew to Delphinium and handed over the round object she had been holding.

That object shining white like a small sun.

Delphinium received the object with a blank expression, then looked at her wrist. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she began moving her staff like a conductor again.

Not long after, the streams of water falling from the sky changed.

Slowly, slowly, the raindrops gathered and soon formed thick lines. Though transparent, they refracted light passing through them like liquid.

It looked just like a dragon.

The dragon soon flew toward places where embers still burned. Very quickly, following the direction of Delphinium’s staff.

As if swallowing the fire, the dragon opened its mouth. When the water met the hot fire, it turned to steam. The mist made the water dragon look even more like a real dragon.

Lily, Blossom, and the unnamed new Magical Girl descended again.

Probably to join the other Magical Girls.

Soon, all the fires were extinguished, and Delphinium followed them.

The small sun that Delphinium had been holding went between the debris and emitted an even brighter light. Bright enough that people even at a distance could see it.

It’s not that there were no casualties. Nor were there few injuries.

Many people were hurt, and there were a small number of deaths.

But because the Magical Girls arrived in time and worked busily using new equipment,

They were able to save many people.

Something that would have been impossible with just the power of ordinary people.

No one would criticize those young girls for missing a day of school.

And one rumor spread.

It was certain that a new Magical Girl had appeared.

Though no one knew how powerful this Magical Girl was,

She was the one who had greatly contributed to stopping the attack of unidentified Kaijin on the Magical Girl headquarters, which occurred simultaneously with the explosion at the Noir Corporation Research Complex.

“No, it wasn’t some secret weapon!”

That very evening, seeing the headline that appeared on the internet, the girl screamed.

“Well, when I first started, there were also strange close-up photos and videos of just me in the news and newspapers.”

Her same-aged senior, who had experienced the media for far too long, simply patted her back while saying so.