Ch.45Chapter 8. Weapons (6)

I don’t know exactly how the Hope Circuit works.

All I knew was that ‘there is a circuit powered by hope’ and ‘its energy efficiency is overwhelmingly higher than circuits using despair.’

I had read the webtoon, but it didn’t go into detailed worldbuilding. It focused more on power struggles between government organizations and companies.

It wasn’t heavy on lore—it was more of a comedy with bits of black humor sprinkled between the magical girls’ daily lives.

When it was just being casually published on a blog, I could enjoy it with a laugh, but after it became officially serialized and ran longer, it exhausted the content of those first few dozen blog chapters and turned into something more serious, changing genres entirely.

So, what I’m saying is, while I know quite a bit about the setting, I’ve actually learned more since coming to this side.

That’s why I don’t know why Hayun’s staff suddenly burst into flames.

I could only tell that it was extremely helpful to her.

The kaijin, seemingly determined never to give up, swung its arms toward the magical girls.

It seemed even more violent than when it had taken a hostage.

Maybe because neither side had anything to lose anymore.

The white left arm made a sound as it cut through the air, rushing toward Hayun.

While I was planting my feet on the ground to slow down, the attack had already reached Hayun.

Or more precisely, Hayun’s “staff.”

“———!”

The kaijin, which had been making somewhat human-like sounds until now, let out a cry that didn’t even sound human anymore.

A white chunk of flesh flew into the air. It was shaped like a pincer. More precisely, it looked like what a pincer would look like if there was flesh inside.

…It’s terrifying seeing it in person.

This probably wasn’t Hayun at her best. I still couldn’t see the form she had when she faced me.

But that pink sword was truly a blade that could cut through anything.

The power I could barely generate by jumping high and striking down with all my might, Hayun could produce with just a single swing of her staff.

Slash!

And then the tip of the charging armor was cut off. The tip of the right arm’s strongest pincer flew off before it could even touch Hayun’s body.

When I was young, I watched a movie with people wielding lightsabers, and this reminded me of those battle scenes. The pink lightsaber spun around, protecting Hayun’s body.

At a glance, it looked like she was just swinging it around quickly, but looking closely at the movements, she was only cutting minimally to block the enemy’s accelerated attacks just before they reached her body.

Well, magical girls might break arms and legs to stop an enemy’s movements, but they don’t kill them.

“You…!”

The kaijin shouted as it flattened itself against the ground.

Then it raised its tail armor high.

The tip of that armor was sharp.

Maybe it hadn’t used it until now because it had two pincers. Well, to use its tail, it would have had to turn its body. It didn’t look very flexible.

Crack.

But before it could turn its body to swing its tail at Hayun’s neck, the tail’s armor was pathetically shattered.

“Kieeek?!”

The kaijin tried to scream and thrash about, but with a hammer pressing down on its tail, it couldn’t move properly.

Though shattered, the flesh inside hadn’t been severed yet. Because of the hammer pressing down as if it had a rocket booster attached, it couldn’t escape without tearing off its flesh.

Bang! Bang!

The kaijin tried to turn around, but it staggered when hit by bullets from the side.

When it tried to look the other way—

Smack!

It only got hit in the face by a magic-enhanced gauntlet.

From the sky, Dalia’s magic fell like hail. Its body sank a little lower as it took the heavy impacts.

“Urrrgh!”

But soon, as if determined to overcome all of this, the kaijin put all its strength into its body.

“Ugh?!”

The hammer pressing down on it shook.

Whether it was squeezing out its last strength or undergoing another awakening, the body under the armor writhed as if about to shed its shell.

But—

“Aah?!”

“Q-quickly, get out of the way! What are you doing? Do you want to die together?!”

James, riding on my shoulder, shouted so loudly that an enormous mass of magical energy was flying toward us.

It was Delphinium’s magic.

Knowing what pain that magic would cause, I felt chills down my spine.

I immediately twisted my upper body to change the direction of the hammer.

As the hammer rolled to the side, my body also twisted sideways, pushed by the energy released from the generator.

I spun about four times like a top.

Or maybe a centrifuge would be more accurate. The energy source was so enormous.

But thanks to that, I was able to escape.

I planted my feet on the ground again to stop, pointing the hammer head downward as I looked toward the kaijin.

“…”

Is that going to kill it?

Have I survived something like that until now? For a moment, I can appreciate how remarkable human vitality is.

Or maybe that’s a somewhat controlled magic despite how it looks.

The surroundings were burning white.

The kaijin appeared black within it. It was dancing and burning within the white magical energy.

And in an instant, that light disappeared. As if it had never existed in the world.

The kaijin stood in place for a very brief moment.

The white flesh parts were no longer there.

The kaijin took one step forward,

And then collapsed.

The thud was louder than expected. Probably because everything around was so quiet.

I quickly turned my head to look for people.

“Jieun!”

I heard someone calling me.

Jihye was far away.

She seemed to be trying to run toward me, but the police officers beside her were holding her back. Perhaps out of consideration for Jihye being a girl, the officers restraining her from both sides were female officers.

I heard a sound like hot iron being plunged into cold water.

And there was a slight burning smell.

When I turned to look, smoke was coming from the hammer.

For a moment, my heart sank. The smoke and smell made me wonder if the circuits inside had burned.

But before I could worry more seriously.

Click.

With that sound, the opened back part of the hammer closed in stages. The extremely delicately precision-machined metal pieces interlocked, leaving no trace that it had ever been open.

Maybe because I was calmed by seeing that Jihye was safe.

I looked up toward Jihye again.

Our eyes met.

Jihye, who had been waving and shouting toward me, seemed to shrink back a little when our eyes met.

“…”

I looked down at my body.

It was covered in soot everywhere. That was natural, having wildly swung a hammer that heated up and even had a booster on the back.

Some blood was flowing too, and above all, it was soaked with that crab-like colored fluid.

I looked terrible.

No, looking terrible wasn’t the real problem.

I…

Ah, I see.

In front of Jihye, I had completely shattered someone’s arm. Looking now, traces of it remained on Jihye’s body too.

And.

What if Jihye…

What if she thinks it was because of me?

What if she thinks she was taken hostage because of me?

The kaijin wasn’t in a state to speak properly, but because of that, just looking at the situation made it easy to misunderstand.

…Am I overthinking this?

Yes, I’m definitely overthinking.

If I just talk to her a little, even now—

But when I took one step in that direction.

Bang!

With that sound, my left shoulder was pushed backward.

“Squeak?!”

That sound escaped from James’s mouth.

*

We defeated it.

It wasn’t solely Hayun’s power that brought down the kaijin.

That’s actually better. Because we combined our strength with the other girls and Jieun.

Plus, Jieun even helped when she was being attacked by the kaijin. Doesn’t that mean she doesn’t harbor that much ill will, at least?

In the final moment, hope blazed up.

Maybe because of that.

“…Ah.”

Only after defeating it did Iris look down at her circuit with wide eyes.

It was a very faint hope, but even that was enough to restore some of Hayun’s energy.

And with just that “some,” the circuit’s energy was overflowing, able to lend strength to the surrounding magical girls.

“…That was dangerous.”

Delphinium said with a slightly pale expression.

“The range almost got too wide.”

“…Because too much magical energy came in midway?”

When Hayun asked, Delphinium nodded.

All the magical girls knew about Hayun and Jieun’s situation. Naturally, they didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking Jieun right in front of her.

The reason Delphinium said it was dangerous was probably because Jieun had entered that range.

Maybe that’s why she threw it a little earlier.

Hayun looked toward Jieun.

“…”

Jieun wasn’t looking at Hayun.

She was only looking at Jihye, who was waving at her from far away.

That’s… right.

It might be a coincidence, but since Jihye was taken hostage, it would naturally be right to worry more about her.

…It’s okay.

After what happened.

There must be a lot built up between us.

If Jieun confronts me, I’ll apologize properly. I’ll make amends as much as I can.

If she still doesn’t forgive me, there’s nothing I can do, but… still.

Still, there was hope.

Even when fighting against the magical girls, Jieun had been considerate of Hayun. There was no malice in that.

Doesn’t that mean at least some feelings of friendship remain?

And just now, helping me.

Someone who hated me wouldn’t have done that.

Hayun looked down at her circuit.

The circuit was spinning vigorously.

With just that small hope.

“I’m going to go over for a bit.”

When Hayun said that, her magical girl colleagues looked at each other, then back at Hayun.

“Okay, good luck.”

Rose patted her shoulder.

“…Us going would probably only be counterproductive.”

Hayun nodded.

Iris looked a bit anxious, but she didn’t try to stop Hayun.

Jieun looked tired. There were visible wounds, but fortunately nothing that seemed immediately serious to the eye.

Let’s get her to the treatment center somehow. After a good rest, we can talk slowly, and things will be okay.

Let’s bring her friend too. That might make her feel more at ease. From what I found out after Jieun disappeared, Jihye was like family to Jieun.

As Hayun was thinking this and looking toward Jieun again, taking one step forward at that moment.

A gunshot was heard.

*

Jieun looked tired.

Her clothes were torn and scorched in various places, and blood was flowing from her wounds.

Moreover, an unidentified liquid was splashed over those wounds.

Could it get infected?

Would it be dangerous to leave it like this?

I’ve never heard of magical girls being in mortal danger from such things, but I was still worried.

I wish they would call an ambulance right now. I thought they should take her to a treatment center.

As I was thinking this and about to turn my head.

A loud gunshot was heard.

Jieun’s shoulder was violently pushed backward.

The expression on Jieun’s face as she fell showed she didn’t fully grasp what was happening.

Magical girls were said to deflect even bullets with their magic.

Yet a spray of blood rose from Jieun’s shoulder.

A scream escaped from Jihye’s mouth.

*

The first thing I thought of after being shot was James, who was on my left shoulder.

“James?!”

I shouted, touching my shoulder with my right hand.

Blood came away on my fingers.

My heart was racing. Could it be?

But fortunately, I heard a slightly weakened squeaking sound.

And then.

“I almost died, you crazy bastards!”

A lion’s roar came from my shoulder. I jerked my head to the side for a moment.

Is he okay? That’s a relief.

…No, it wasn’t a relief.

Looking down at my shoulder, it was covered in red blood.

Did the bullet go through? No, that wasn’t it. My left arm was moving properly. Looking at the position, if it had gone through here, my shoulder blade would have been shattered. I wouldn’t be able to make a fist, let alone have my arm hanging limply.

Did I deflect it with magic?

But the reason I was injured—

Ah.

I looked down at the hammer.

As I looked down, a slight keening sound started coming from the hammer again.

The generator stopping meant I had felt that much hope. I saw that Jihye was fine, and I saw Hayun regaining her strength.

A very thin, almost invisible hope.

And that hope didn’t last long. As my thoughts continued, other worries painted over it.

But even so.

“…Ha.”

“Jeong Jieun?”

“Ha, hahahahaha!”

This is ridiculous, really.

I clutched my stomach with my left hand and laughed.

It’s obviously not laughter of joy. Nor am I laughing because something is genuinely funny.

Why am I laughing? I don’t know. The laughter just came out.

Maybe “ridiculous” is the most accurate description?

I raised my head.

I could hear someone shouting that it shouldn’t be done, and what sounded like protests.

But more intense than those distant sounds was what I could see with my eyes.

I saw a net. A net shaped like those thrown toward the sea. A net that greedily pulls up hundreds or thousands of fish at once.

It was probably just that kind of shadow I saw in the backlight. In reality, it was something much more ferocious than that.

A thick, heavy net that throws down whatever is caught underneath it, making it difficult to get up.

This is ridiculous.

After fighting so hard.

I looked to the side.

The magical girls were moving.

They were rushing toward me. Why?

Only Hayun seemed unable to accept the situation, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape.

Really, really… ridiculous.

If they had just politely asked me to come with them, it would have been better. I might have seriously considered it and maybe even agreed? Like with James. Let’s think about how one of them could approach me.

But this is the result.

I, too, I tried hard.

I thought I tried as hard as anyone else.

Am I different from others? Did I come here just to suffer? Is that why no matter how hard I try, this is what happens?

Yes, I’m not saying I did nothing wrong.

But they said it was okay.

They said it wasn’t illegal. If we’re being honest, they’re bad guys too. They’re all just trash trying to use Hayun and exploit Earth.

So why just me?

Why are they only doing this to me?

Is it because I wrote one comment? Really? I’m not the only one who did that!

These fucking bastards.

In front of me, where the net was, a black dot appeared.

That dot greedily sucked in the net.

Not just the net.

It devoured everything there. The air, the light.

The light being sucked into the black dot curved like an outline. The surrounding space was distorted as if reflected in a concave mirror.

Even sound seemed to be sucked in, as no sound could be heard.

I took one step, then another toward that hole.

And I tilted my head.

If I didn’t do anything wrong, why should I run away?

Shouldn’t the police know? They would have investigated the scene. Then there would have been mountains of evidence that it wasn’t me.

I lowered my gaze.

Inside that randomly bending space, I saw something shining. There was a person lying on top of a large armored vehicle. That person was holding a long metal rod.

A gun.

A gun still steadfastly aimed at me in that situation.

My feet left the ground.

Slowly rising into the air—

I skipped the middle part and stood in front of that person.

“Uh.”

Before they could say anything, I grabbed the gun barrel.

The long gun bent without much difficulty.

When I brought that bent end up to the man’s eyes, he broke into a cold sweat.

I heard a clicking sound and realized the man was chattering his teeth. It was cold, but not that cold.

I rolled my foot.

The waist of the armored vehicle was pathetically crushed. The people inside scrambled out.

Pushing aside the man who had been lying down, I vented my anger by stomping on the armored vehicle several times.

Kicking it, hammering it down, punching it.

Windows breaking, the side of the vehicle tearing, tires bursting, crumpling, falling off, oil spurting out.

During all this, no one tried to stop me. Or were they unable to stop me? Why, when just a moment ago they so casually fired guns and threw nets over my head?

Before long, the vehicle was flattened.

After destroying it to the point where further damage was meaningless, I caught my breath and looked around.

Everyone who made eye contact with me hastily backed away. A huge circle formed with me at the center.

The light in the sky was now barely visible. The blue sky had turned black like the night sky. The sky with light flowing like a river was beautiful but also empty.

“…”

After staring blankly at that sky for a long time, I lowered my gaze.

I ended up making eye contact with Jihye.

Jihye was sitting on the ground, looking at me with a pale face.

For some reason, I felt like crying.

So I just disappeared.