Chapter 104 : Like a Shining Meteor

Boooooom—

A huge rupturing sound that gave goosebumps just from hearing it.

Hana looked up for a moment.

A giant spear blade splitting the sky.

Numerous illusions and silver weapons opposing the spear blade.

Between the huge scars that seemed like they would roughly tear the red sky, two beings were continuing their fierce battle.

Silver gushing out between colorful lights.

Reddish-brown gushing out between burning barriers.

The two huge colors were chaotically intertwined, covering the red sky.

The sight was so enormous that it made those watching freeze in place.

Hana was filled with worry at the fact that her friend was fighting there.

“Hikari-chan…?!”

“Hana!! It’s dangerous!!”

“Ah!”

“Hana!! Snap out of it!! You need to dodge!!”

Echo, her short blonde hair fluttering, shouted urgently while pushing back giant soldiers and black lions with sound waves in the baseball stadium.

“Eh?!”

Crack crack crack!!

A reddish-brown flash rushed before Hana’s eyes as she turned back.

A giant larger than a utility pole was running while crushing everything, surrounded by reddish-brown flashes.

The giant’s light grew from a dot to fill the entire view.

Crack crack crack!

Shattering asphalt.

Overturning walls.

Flying vehicles.

The plan was to divert the giant attacking the sports center with an all-out attack, then escape as far as possible, and Hana’s group was on their way back to destroy the obelisk after passing through the baseball stadium.

Echo pushed back enemies with sound waves. Sylph lifted the group with wind. Daphne supported the group so they wouldn’t get tired.

Receiving all that help, Hana was able to attack the giant faster than ever before and then escape. But Achilles, the giant who had been kilometers away from Hana’s group, chased after them with a flash.

“No way?! We had gone so far!”

“Sylph!! This is no time to be surprised!! Dodge!!”

Achilles’ two legs moved so strongly and swiftly that his upper body seemed to float like a ghost as he approached.

Hana desperately tried to wrap herself in yellow starlight to escape from the giant, but she could feel Achilles’ momentum getting closer little by little.

Like a high-speed train running on invisible tracks.

Becoming a spear incomparable to anything else with just speed and momentum.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Due to Achilles’ momentum, everything around shattered as if hit by a storm, and it felt like passing through a tunnel made of debris flying up simultaneously.

Crack crack crack!

Is this what it would feel like to watch a train rushing out of a tunnel while standing on the tracks?

Even while facing Achilles’ charge that seemed like it would tear her skin with just momentum, Hana unconsciously imagined such a thing.

Darkness chaotically shaking between the reddish-brown armor.

The gaze visible through the face guard of the worn-out helmet.

Killing intent

Death

Destruction

Crushing

If hit by that, she would die.

Her small body would probably be shattered without a trace.

Thinking that, Hana’s breath seemed to freeze.

‘What should I do.’

Even if she dies and comes back to life like this.

If she leaves the battle, she won’t be able to help Hikari-chan.

If she loses, many non-magical girls will die.

Mom and Dad waiting at home will be in danger.

And the little sister who recently came into this world.

-Hana-chan! When your little sister is born, you have to protect her, okay?

-Mom, Dad and Hana will protect the baby together.

-Yes! Of course!

“Ah…”

It was just a step away from Hana’s fragile body colliding with the giant body that was meters tall approaching her.

“Hana!!! It’s dangerous!!!”

In that moment stretched like eternity, golden starlight enveloped Hana and she was able to dodge the giant’s charge by a hair’s breadth.

As she rolled, the red sky and ground flipped, dizzily shaking her vision.

Gasping breath

Golden hair

Red sky

When her vision returned after everything was chaotically mixed, Hana could finally breathe with relief at having survived.

“Ugh…”

“A-are you okay, Daphne?”

“M-my head hurts.”

Lying on the ground with the golden girl who had come to save her, Hana heard the sound of the wall on the opposite side of the baseball stadium collapsing.

Crack crack crack!

Boooooom!!

Rumble―

Unable to stop the remaining force from his transcendent speed despite missing the target, Achilles charged through the stadium hundreds of meters wide and shattered the opposite wall.

The noise of Achilles disappearing beyond the wall after completely passing through the stadium was faintly heard.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Hana, who had barely escaped the moment of crisis, looked at Daphne holding her with one hand.

Daphne’s one arm was completely mangled due to the giant’s momentum.

An arm with joints bent, dangling.

Her fluttering white clothes were a mess of dust and blood, and her beautiful golden hair was completely tangled with sweat.

“Ugh… Ha-Hana!! Let’s get away while we have the chance!!”

“Daphne! Your arm… arm! I’ll heal you!”

Just as Hana clenched her chattering teeth in fear and tried to use her healing ability while emitting yellow starlight.

Boooooom!!

Achilles, who had disappeared beyond the wall, came down from the sky over the baseball stadium fence.

Like a meteor splitting the red sky.

“Daphneeeee!!! I’ll save youuuu!!!”

“Sylph!! No!!”

“Uwaaaaaa…!!!”

The golden girl with always dull eyes created a huge wall of wind while straining her neck.

A hemispherical barrier made of countless winds gathered.

The flash of the reddish-brown giant flying through the red sky.

The collision of the two powers, shot like striking an egg with a huge spear, created an explosion that shattered everything around with an ear-splitting roar.

Swoooosh!!!

Boooooom―

Debris shooting up into the sky.

The ground being destroyed.

Everything floated up into the sky like hammering the surface of water in the face of pure violence.

Hana saw the figures of her other friends who had come to save her as she was helplessly flung away in the midst of it.

Sylph, who had overexerted herself deploying the barrier, was blown away by the aftershock while bleeding from her nose.

Daphne, who had lost the use of one arm to save Hana, rolled through the debris covered in blood.

Echo, who had been blowing away black lions nearby, was flung far away by the bombardment that occurred behind her.

Everything happened in an instant, feeling utterly unreal.

Crash!

Hana, who had flown into the sky and fallen back to the ground, rolling several times, couldn’t get up from the impact.

Her limp body felt as numb as her lower body that had been paralyzed before becoming a magical girl.

A sensation like floating in the air without any feeling.

Emptiness

Despair

“Ugh… urk…!”

“…!…!”

“…!!!…!!”

Beep―

Through her eardrums completely blown out by the aftermath of the destruction, she seemed to hear her friends saying something with difficulty.

Run away

It’s dangerous

‘As if I could run away leaving you all behind…’

Vibrations from heavy footsteps approaching from far away reverberated through Hana’s body touching the ground.

Thud

Thud

Thud

Beyond the stadium that Hana barely turned her head to look at, hundreds of giant soldiers and lions were approaching, surrounding them.

“■■■■■!!”

“■■■!!”

While her friends’ voices sounded faint as if heard underwater, why did those unpleasant howls sound so clear?

Rumble…

Along with the sound of the stadium shattering and collapsing.

A reddish-brown flash was coming down again from beyond the sky.

Rumble…

To end the lives of her friends and herself.

To find and harm people again.

Rumble…

Hana got up with her numb arms trembling.

Like that day when lower body paralysis came.

Like that day when she endlessly fell and cried with her face buried in the bed.

“Ugh… Hikari-chan…! Mom…! Dad…!”

And her little sister.

Hana got up remembering everything.

Even with trembling legs. Even with her whole body numb and aching. Even if all her friends had fallen. Hana barely raised her body that had lost even the sensation of pain and stood up alone in the stadium.

Demons completely surrounded them.

Soldiers approached with spear blades shining sharply.

Reddish-brown flash approached from beyond the sky.

Swish―

Hana wiped away the nosebleed flowing from the impact and faced them with difficulty, opening her eyes.

She was now the only magical girl who could stand up in the stadium.

No matter how much magical girls could return from death, ignoring friends in danger was not Hana’s way of living.

As kindly as her first friend who didn’t ignore her shabby self in the cafe.

With love like her mother who cared for her when she was nothing but a burden.

As strong as her father who said cheerfully that everything would work out.

There was only one thing Hana had to do at this moment.

Run.

Run wrapped in starlight.

Blow everything away with the starlight of swiftness.

For her friends.

For her family.

For the people.

Run.

“Hup! What I’m… what I’m good at is…!”

Running to help people.

‘Because magical girls exist to protect people.’

At this moment, she had to burn like a meteor coming down from the sky and protect them.

As she recalled the gratitude and encouragement of the people she had helped so far, yellow starlight gradually began to boil up.

Hana spread her legs wide, planted her hands on the ground, raised her head and looked at the approaching demons.