Ch.84Chapter 14. Chaos (7)

To summarize the situation:

Those guys had set the same kind of trap here as last time.

They also added their own secret weapons to ensure a more certain kill—weapons that appeared to use Earth humans… or at least were created in a similar fashion.

The Federation has only been in contact with Earth for five years now. Even if development started immediately after contact, people couldn’t grow that quickly at a normal rate.

Unless they used technology that isn’t supposed to be… isn’t allowed to be used on humans.

“Were they planning to collect combat data?”

“More likely, they just wanted to eliminate us completely. That chairman isn’t capable of such complex thinking.”

“And now their plan has gone awry because I can’t properly use my power.”

“They can’t read your emotions from their side. Thanks to that, neither that robot nor those artificial kaijin can utilize their full power. The human piloting that robot probably didn’t anticipate this situation either. That’s why he was stalling with all that nonsense.”

“…You predicted we might be in danger of dying.”

“More precisely, I predicted it wouldn’t explode. And it’s safe now, isn’t it?”

I can somewhat understand putting me in danger. That doesn’t mean I forgive it. I just think it might be unavoidable if necessary.

But I don’t like Hayun being in danger. I don’t like others getting involved either, but especially not Hayun.

Yes, I know my feelings are contradictory. After all, I myself had wanted to fight and defeat Hayun.

That’s why I felt so angry.

Even though James now looked like a hamster, he was still James. Still had that same dirty personality and twisted tastes from back then.

I definitely can’t leave him be.

Whether through re-education or starvation, I need to somehow return his thinking to normal.

At the very least, I need to change that manner of speaking. He could be so much more likable if he just stopped deliberately irritating people.

“Ha, haha!”

The mohawk guy laughed.

“So you’re like rats in a trap! Even if the bombs didn’t go off, with just the kaijin—GUHK?!”

Before he could spout more nonsense, I swung my hammer at his head.

Even though the hammer didn’t quite hit the floor, the mohawk guy immediately shut up and went quiet. His face had turned pale.

“I respect your spirit for being able to talk like that even in a disadvantageous situation—”

“You shut up too.”

I said to James who was babbling away.

“I’ll hammer you too if you keep making me angrier.”

James wisely closed his mouth.

“…So.”

I spoke with my insides boiling with rage.

My circuit was working again, but it couldn’t generate the intense energy it had before.

Unfortunately, it seems I don’t have the mindset to become a hero. Even looking at the “victims” before me, all I could think about was “how to escape.”

Let’s just go back now. If I make a wrong move and a bomb goes off, we could all really die.

That bomb that made even Hayun—”Blossom”—lose consciousness for a while. If it explodes right under our feet—

“…We can’t just leave those people behind.”

Hayun said.

“That would be… too…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence, but I clearly understood she was sincere.

I looked around at the other girls.

Their faces were all rigid, but none of them were thinking of running away.

Because Hayun and all of them were magical girls. Regardless of their backgrounds, despite the author adding “realistic high school girl” settings as some kind of joke, even if there were political backgrounds to those settings.

They don’t back down when faced with what they believe is wrong.

Even if they can’t always be perfectly righteous, they’re children who never give up on that single ray of hope, always moving toward justice.

Perhaps that’s the difference between me and those girls.

“…Alright.”

At my answer, James looked at me with surprise.

He probably recorded this whole situation with that drone. He probably thinks he just needs to get outside and spread the information. That’s likely why the opponent planted all those bombs here too. After all, isn’t erasing without a trace the best way to prevent us from revealing their secrets to others?

“But I don’t know how long we’ll be okay. I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Can we break through the wall?”

Rose asked.

“Delphinium… probably can’t. Dealing with them is the priority right now.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“I’ll help you.”

Dalia said.

“Even if I can’t create a massive explosion like Delphinium, I can definitely help with breaking through.”

I pressed my lips together again.

I still can’t figure out what I want to do. Whether I want to help the magical girls and become a hero, or if I’m just making this decision because I’m being pushed along, swept up in the situation.

But one thing I could know for certain was that—this choice wasn’t entirely wrong.

Hayun’s circuit, and the other girls’ circuits too.

They all shone white.

Everyone looked at their circuits in slight confusion.

“Then, let’s begin.”

As I muttered quietly, the girls forgot their confusion and immediately moved.

And the opponents began to move too.

I ran toward the wall with all my might, not paying attention to the others.

The robot’s arm aimed at me, probably thinking I was more dangerous.

Yes, that makes sense. They’d think it extremely dangerous if what’s inside here gets exposed outside.

I heard the sound of missiles tearing through the air, but they didn’t reach me.

Bang, boom!

Though they couldn’t tear through my body, the missiles exploded with a sound that threatened to rupture my eardrums. They had detonated after being hit by magic bullets that flew quickly toward them.

Dalia had fired magic at the missiles, causing them all to explode in mid-air.

My body staggered from the blast wave following the explosion, but the hammer I was holding had a large propulsion device attached.

I haven’t been fighting in vain all this time. I regained my balance while carefully adjusting the position of my hammer.

The ceiling opened and missile heads popped out, but Dalia, having seen such a situation before, swung her staff again. Small, fragmented magic bullets slipped into the gap and seemed to detonate the spare missiles inside. Fortunately, those explosions hit the inside of the ceiling and didn’t send fragments flying toward us.

The ceiling doesn’t break. Either the missiles are anti-personnel and not powerful enough, or the ceiling is abnormally sturdy.

Well, they wouldn’t want their own building to explode from their own missiles and reveal the situation inside. At least the designer seems to be smart.

Enduring explosions from all directions, I reached the wall.

Fortunately, this was the floor with the hangar where that robot was, so there were long paths extending on both sides of the hangar. In other words, at the end of those paths was not a wall dividing rooms, but a wall separating the laboratory from the outside.

BANG!

I hit the wall with my hammer at maximum propulsion.

And immediately faced the obvious problem.

The wall didn’t budge at all from my strike.

At most, some of the outer concrete crumbled and the inner rebar was exposed.

Dalia fired the largest magic bullet she could muster right after I hit and retreated, but again, only dust fell and the wall remained intact. The inner rebar especially didn’t even show the slightest sign of bending. How densely packed was it?

The reason quickly occurred to me.

It’s not just because the secrets inside are dangerous. From the moment it was built as a shopping mall, it would have been designed to support weight.

It needs to be sturdy enough to withstand the weight of all the people crowded inside.

That’s not to say we couldn’t drill a hole with some equipment—

“Hey, wait.”

As I stepped back and lifted my hammer high above my head, Dalia called out to me in confusion.

Ignoring her call, I swung my hammer with all my might.

Bang, bang, bang.

And—

“Ha.”

As expected.

The floor wasn’t as thick as the wall.

Shopping malls inherently have a lot of space between floors and ceilings. It has to be that way to bring in all kinds of items and let people browse them.

So it would be hard to notice if they created a fake layer under the floor.

Especially if it’s a space too narrow for even one person to stand in.

…I saw those kaijin, who seemed to be modified Earth humans, rising from the floor earlier. Even for beings enhanced by circuits, it’s impossible to completely break through such thick walls.

That means they must have created another layer below that’s difficult for us to notice.

This laboratory was already being used for such purposes from the moment the current chairman acquired it.

A laboratory designed to secretly store soldiers and, if necessary, destroy them immediately.

Bang! Bang!

Even now, such sounds could be heard from where the girls were fighting. The sound of kaijin forcibly emerging from the floor.

And at my location—

Found it.

“What the—?”

Seeing what I pulled out while dusting off dirt, Dalia was horrified.

In my hand was a “circuit” spinning with an ominous color.

It looked extremely unstable. It was smaller than the one I saw at the chairman’s house last time. It wasn’t a 1-meter sized circuit like the one I saw there, but it wasn’t very small either. The diameter was about 30cm.

They probably thought a 1-meter circuit would be overkill to bury us. They must have laid many of these underneath. Even now, I could see the edges of several more beneath the ground I had broken.

“Help me for a moment.”

“What are you trying to do?”

Dalia asked with a pale face.

“One of these won’t be enough to break the wall.”

That’s obvious.

They want to bury us, but it would be problematic if the situation inside leaked out. The Federation might see and protest, but the actions of the company they were trying to partner with shouldn’t get out. That would provoke antipathy from Earth people.

“…You’re going to detonate it?”

Dalia immediately understood what I meant.

“Yes.”

I said with fiery eyes.

“With this, I’m going to blow a huge hole in this wall.”

Well, it might be dangerous.

But then again, when have magical girls ever not been in danger?

Especially me.

I carelessly threw the circuit against the wall.

“Just throwing it won’t make it explode! It’s safe until I detonate it, so just throw it there!”

Right after saying that, I deflected an incoming missile with my hammer.

The missile, hit on its side, swerved sideways and flew straight into the hangar where it exploded.

Inside were, for some reason, other immobile robots.

They probably planned to have all of those moving too.

If I try to detonate the bomb, they might all start rampaging.

I looked back.

The magical girls were still fighting well.

The kaijin were strong and quickly recovered from injuries. Moreover, they not only looked like “Earth humans” but also seemed to be directly operating circuits.

With just my current energy, I truly can’t exert that much power.

The plan revolving in my head is simple. I don’t intend to face all of those things just in here.

Break the wall, get outside, and make those things follow us out.

At least out there, we can fight using our energy to the fullest.

Dalia, despite her pale face, was following my instructions. She was blocking incoming attacks with magic and throwing circuits she dug up from the floor toward the wall.

“H-how many do I need to pile up?!”

“Not sure.”

When I said that and looked at the wall, more than ten were already piled up.

Perhaps because the circuits were thrown haphazardly, their instability was even more apparent.

“…This should be enough.”

Next comes despair.

How can I make myself despair?

How can my despair become greater than the hope that is Hayun?

Hayun and the other magical girls were all fighting too well.

But I don’t want to betray those girls either. That would… seem to cause me too permanent a damage.

…Alright.

When have I ever been someone who thinks deeply before acting?

Just like usual, I’ll move like trash.

“W-where are you going?!”

“To fight.”

“What?!”

Maybe my answer was too simple. Dalia shouted in horror.

“It can’t be helped. That’s the fastest way to break the wall.”

Besides, there were circuits scattered all over the floor where the magical girls were fighting.

Circuits that looked even more unstable than before.

Is it because they received impact from the floor? Or is my despair circuit working more than before?

I’m not sure, but—yes, those will help too.

I gripped my hammer firmly and charged toward the enemy.

The battlefield was in utter chaos compared to where we were breaking the floor. Concrete dust flying everywhere with no ventilation made it resemble a war zone.

I rushed in, picked up a circuit from the floor, and threw it hard toward the wall—

Thud.

I was hit by a kick from the side and tumbled sideways.

It hurt. Even though they weren’t wearing combat boots or anything, the impact made me see stars. Could they be coating themselves with magic power?

I swung my hammer at the kaijin.

Bang!

The kaijin raised its hand and blocked my hammer.

No, it caught it.

Its hand trembled and the outer skin burst open, but the opponent was withstanding my hammer strike.

No matter how much I increased the propulsion, I couldn’t throw the kaijin sideways—

Thud.

Then a knee drove into my stomach.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My body bent forward in pain.

Ha, haha.

I’ve experienced this before. I just couldn’t remember it. How easily I forgot just because the situation had somewhat improved.

Or had it improved? I’m not sure. Honestly, my current situation is so bad it’s embarrassing to even call it a mixed blessing.

The only good thing was when I transformed into a magical girl.

The bent waist made me see the circuit in front of me again.

I picked up that circuit and threw it, and I was thrown aside too.

I rolled across the floor. It hurt much more than I expected, but—

Whirr.

The circuit is spinning. Good.

No, should I say it’s not good?

The more I despair, the stronger the kaijin become. My power is being shared with the kaijin who were already running their circuits with their own power, albeit weakly.

Really, I’m useless. An ally who only gives power to the enemy in this situation.

The circuit trembled more.

The magical girls—especially Hayun—were panicking.

They tried to approach me after seeing me get hit while fighting the kaijin, but they couldn’t because I had gone deep into the midst of the kaijin.

Compared to earlier, Hayun’s circuit light seems to have dimmed slightly.

Is it just my imagination?

Thud.

Ouch.

This time I blocked the attack, but my arm vibrated painfully.

As that kaijin tried to kick me again, while standing on one foot, its posture crumbled sideways from magic that flew in from the side.

Dalia.

And there was supporting fire from Iris too. Seeing that it didn’t fly away from that beam, the kaijin must indeed be coated with magic power.

Bang!

My hammer flew toward the kaijin’s disrupted posture, sending it flying. Thanks to the kaijin sliding sideways with its shoulder buried in the floor, I could see the circuit again.

I picked it up and threw it again.

Dalia, understanding what I was trying to do, quickly came and grabbed circuits to throw.

The kaijin finally realized what was happening.

And only then did they notice the circuits piled up on one side, spinning violently.

What will they do? Will the kaijin go toward them?

No. They didn’t.

Perhaps because they were made from Earth humans, they had one clear objective: the magical girls, including me. Not one of them approached the mohawk guy crouching in the corner.

But that was it—did they still not understand complex commands? They didn’t seem to recognize that “danger.”

A kaijin’s hand struck me. It was different from the one that had been sent flying. When I regained my senses after rolling on the floor, I saw two circuits side by side in front of me.

I threw those too.

The circuits were much more unstable than before.

Only useful when I get hit. What kind of setting is this?

“Jieun!”

Hayun called out to me anxiously.

The magical girls were still holding their ground well, but the weapons they were using had definitely weakened compared to the beginning.

Was it because those girls’ hope had faded a little?

Or was my hope—

“Everyone, jump!”

I shouted.

Now it’s possible.

A black hole appeared in the air. At first it was only the size of a fist, but it gradually grew larger as it absorbed the surrounding light.

And then, all the circuits near that wall screamed in unison.

As if delivering the final blow to the highly unstable circuits, the black hole began to suck in everything around it. The kaijin resisted, but—

Two arms suddenly slipped under my armpits.

“Were you planning to stay behind alone?!”

Dalia scolded me as she quickly flew. While the kaijin were regaining their posture, Dalia flew with all her might, screaming, and barely managed to jump into the black hole just as the explosions began to be heard.

We rolled hard across the ground. Well, at least this time we weren’t buried in broken concrete.

Instead, it was asphalt.

Before I could get up again—

A thunderous sound was heard.

I heard screams from around us, and police officers shouting something.

I raised my head.

A massive explosion was occurring at the top of the building.

Above it already floated a black hole I didn’t even remember creating. No, had I made two from the beginning? Honestly, I was so busy getting hit that I’m not sure.

But I did it. There were no fragments falling down. They probably got thrown somewhere over the sea.

A huge hole had been blown in the research facility.

That much was clearly visible.