Ch.99. The Worst Encounter

The power of rage, swirling with her golden hair.

In her noble ruby-colored eyes, the crimson bloodstains of that time are etched,

As the magic that once circulated peacefully gathers at her fingertips.

The massive golden axe, which only she and her sister can wield,

Points toward her enemy.

“B-Bine. What are you? Why, why are you here? Yoonseul? Yuri unnie? Why, why is everyone so calm? She, she shouldn’t be here. I, I definitely sent her to Marina with my own hands…”

The resentment in her heart, her anger. The memory she thought she had forgotten.

The cause was the small girl before her eyes.

Wearing shabby, ill-fitting black clothes.

This little vine was the source.

“Hyewon, please calm down. Put down that weapon, okay?”

“Would you be calm if you were me?! I, I thought I had finally avenged my sister. Why is this bitch, who should be locked up in Marina forever, standing here?”

Crimson rubies, the rage within them, creating vibrations.

The aftermath that follows.

As she turns the entire house into chaos,

Pointing the magic-enhanced axe blade at Bine’s neck.

As if she would slice it immediately,

If she doesn’t get the answer she wants.

In such a threatening voice.

“You, tell me straight. Why are you here?”

“Hmm, I don’t want to be here either. But I’m employed here.”

The blade of rage, the cold axe, moves closer to strike the neck.

The magic-sharpened edge already digs into the skin, drawing red blood.

“I said tell me straight! That’s not what I asked you to say. You, you should be in Marina. I, I clearly saw it. How.”

Despite the blade digging in, with blood dripping, she answers calmly with a consistent expressionless face, as if this pain is nothing.

“How would I know? I’m here without understanding what’s happening myself.”

To quell her anger, Blanc stepped in.

“Hyewon. Put down your weapon now. I’ll explain everything.”

“Yoonseul. She’s a villain. She needs to be eliminated. Why, why are you stopping me? You’re a magical girl.”

“Hyewon. Calm down. We can resolve this through conversation, right? I’ll explain everything, so first. Okay?”

“She should be rotting in Marina forever. You said it was a death sentence. Why is she standing here so boldly?”

“Hyewon. Bine was sentenced to death, but the final verdict was 3 years. She’s already served her full sentence for 3 years. Besides, she’s wearing a power-sealing collar. She’s harmless now.”

“Hmm, harmless indeed. Without power, just working as a housekeeper in a magical girl’s den.”

“Bine! You stop too!”

“Haa, yes. Excuse me, Miss Geum? Would you mind removing the axe? When I get cut by an axe now, it hurts.”

“You, you should thank Yoonseul for saving you. Haa.”

And so, the massive axe aimed at the slender neck returned to its owner’s embrace, concealing its form. Its owner, unable to suppress her anger, obediently followed the mediator’s words and sat in a chair, glaring at the source of her rage.

“Bine, are you okay? Here, tissue. Should I get medicine?”

“No need. Ah, I’ll take the tissue. Yes. Thank you.”

“Yoonseul, why are you protecting Bine? We’re magical girls. Why are you helping a villain? Don’t tell me. Have you been brainwashed?”

“No. Hyewon, if I were brainwashed, you would have noticed already. I’ll tell you everything.”

So, Blanc sat across from Hyewon, with Bine beside her, and explained everything that had happened.

Without omission, only the truth.

Even the details she hadn’t told the other children before, everything.

How she found Bine. How she brought her here, what bet they made.

“Hyewon, did that help you understand a little?”

“Yeah, but. I still vividly remember what that bitch… did to my sister. So, so I somehow defeated her at headquarters with an arm I couldn’t move. For my sister, but. Why.”

“Your sister must be that blonde magical girl. The woman who recklessly rushed in to block the laser aimed at Blanc.”

“Shut up. Because of you, my sister lives unable to use her legs, having given up her dream. I want to cut your throat right now and tell my sister, but I’m holding back thanks to Yoonseul.”

“Hmm, that magical girl was in the track team, wasn’t she? She was annoyingly fast.”

“Hey! You crazy bitch! Rea—”

“Hyewon! Hold it. Bine, don’t say such things carelessly. Why are you provoking someone who’s just calmed down?!”

“I only spoke the truth.”

“Haa, so. She’s a housekeeper? How do I know she won’t poison the food or set traps in the house? What should I trust? Even that bet ultimately comes from trust. I can’t trust her. How many times has she escaped by pretending to be harmless and innocent?”

“Hmm, if you can’t trust me, there’s no need to force yourself. As you said, I was a villain, someone who made evil my profession.”

“You. And you don’t feel any remorse toward my sister? Do you know how much, how much she suffered because of you?”

“No, I don’t. It’s obvious that she jumped like a fly into the laser I fired at Blanc.”

“Hey! You, you keep talking about my sister…!”

“Hyewon! Bine! Both of you, stop! Then, we can just ask the person involved, right? Your sister Hyein should be at your family home. We can fly there quickly and ask her. Isn’t that simple?”

“You want to bring this bitch in front of my sister? Do you know what my sister will think? What if my sister has PTSD from that incident?”

“Still, nothing is more accurate than asking the person directly, right? Hyewon, okay?”

“Haa, fine. I’m doing this because you asked. Really… Yoonseul, you…”

At that moment, Bine, sitting next to Yoonseul, pointed to the sealing collar on her neck and asked Blanc.

“Blanc? I can’t fly though…?”

“Ah, I can carry you. Hyewon, are you ready?”

“Yeah, just a moment.”

In an instant, the room filled with light, enveloping the two girls.

The girls’ prayer-like incantations filled the room,

Soon after, white magical particles materialized, circling around them, becoming their clothes and weapons.

The two magical girls who completed their incantations.

Bine, perhaps seeing magical girl attire after a long time, showed slight interest in her otherwise consistent expressionless face.

“Now, let’s go. Bine, come here and let me carry you.”

“Hmm, how are you planning to carry me?”

Blanc picked up Bine in a princess carry position, opened the door, and leaped into the blue sky.

“Blanc, this position is embarrassing…!”

“This is the easiest way to carry you.”

“Blanc, come this way. That’s our house over there.”

“Ah, over there? Wait, Citrus!”

After gliding for about 10 minutes.

Crossing the river, at the front door of an apartment located in the northern part of the capital.

“Hmm, I should probably put you down before we go in?”

“Yeah, that would be better.”

Magical particles emerged from the two girls again, dispersing into the air, returning them to their original appearances.

“Haa, next time please carry me in a different way. It’s embarrassing, that kind of thing.”

“I told you it’s the safest way.”

“Earlier you said it was comfortable.”

“Hmm, it’s both.”

While they were bickering, Hyewon opened the front door and let them in.

* * *

“What? Sister, what do you mean…! Sister, your dream is running. How can…!”

The blonde girl begged the doctor to check again, pleaded that it couldn’t be true,

But the magical girl Citrus, lying in bed, could not rise again.

Because she had blocked with her body the laser cannon fired by Bine,

Eden’s rising star, the encroaching vine, aimed at her most cherished junior, the magical girl Blanc,

The gliding girl lost her power and fell,

Seeing this, Blanc followed to try to catch her as she fell,

But due to Bine’s fierce attacks, she couldn’t help,

Barely another magical girl recovered the fallen Citrus, recording Bine’s victory,

Because of that battle.

The association’s doctor said that Citrus had injured her spine and might not be able to walk, let alone continue magical girl activities.

Nevertheless, the blonde Citrus said,

“Hehe, at least I avoided the worst. I didn’t die. And I prevented Bine from collecting evil energy. Besides, I can still wa… walk… like this… ugh,”

Eventually, as she lost balance and collapsed, the young girl Hyewon rushed to her.

“Sister! Are you okay? Please, don’t push yourself. Okay?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. As long as you’re safe, I’m happy. Understand? Don’t cry, okay?”

“Sister… hic, sniff…”

And so, after putting Hyewon, who had cried herself to sleep, on the guardian’s bed, Hyein stared at the white ceiling of the hospital room, lost in deep thought.

“Haa, really. Now, I can’t even walk properly… hic, with this body, running is, of course, impossible. Sniff…”

“Haa, I had just talked with the coach about winning the youth championships.”

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”

Resigned, she spent the night in tears, and the next day she informed the association chairman of her retirement.

And, a few months later.

Hyewon, who had become the only source of vitality during her sister’s hospital stay, met her sister’s mascot and secretly made a contract to become a magical girl, beginning activities as the new magical girl Citrus.

Of course, after being discovered, Hyein, who adored Hyewon dearly, got angry at Hyewon for the first time in her life.

And the greatest goal of the new magical girl Citrus was revenge.

To bring down the villain named Bine who had made her sister like this.

From that dark night sky.

Thus, time passed as she worked as a magical girl, taking down Eden one by one.

And then, the beginning of Eden’s collapse. Operation Ragnarok.

There was a magical girl who stepped forward for the final act of revenge.