Chapter 16 : Pursuit

The magical power flowing out from the gate was easy to sense, but the aura that girl was emitting was faint.

Even without knowing the technical skill of the support office, it was highly likely they hadn’t detected it.

I decided to leave the battle to the juniors
and focus on finding the culprit.

That’s when I found the girl.

‘Wearing strange clothes and emitting magical power similar to a monster.’

It was highly suspicious.

If she was unrelated, I could just let her go immediately.

First, I would capture her and then question her about the current situation.

I landed on the rooftop of the building.

I approached right behind the girl, but she didn’t notice me at all.

“Hey, are you the culprit?”

“Ahh!!!”

When I spoke, the girl screamed.

I thought she would slip and fall, but she flew up with magic and faced me.

“You’re Angelic Luna, right?”

“Huh? Don’t act like you’re close with me. I’m Reaper Morse.”

“Never heard that name before.”

I had skimmed the magical girl list on the wiki.

Reaper Morse wasn’t on the list, I think.

More than that, somehow, she seemed like a rebellious kid.

“Scarlet Lily, so this is what you’ve been doing… neglecting your duties and just goofing off, huh?”

Her duty as a magical girl, huh?

If we were to argue, she’d been doing it for over ten years.

But didn’t she have no right to say something like that?

“If you surrender quietly, I won’t be rough with you.”

“That’s a ridiculous thing to say. Do I look that easy?”

“You didn’t even realize I approached until I spoke from behind.”

“……!”

Maybe because I hit a nerve, the girl clenched her teeth.

“This is your last warning. Surrender.”

“Hmph! Catch me if you can!”

With a whooshing sound, she began flying away into the distance.

Ah, what a bother.

Reaper Morse was talented at flying.

No one could match her stamina, speed, or sense.

Same for the third generation or above.

It was a matter of innate talent.

She could confidently claim the sky as her domain.

Or so it seemed.

“This can’t be… How can she be chasing me!?”

At the moment she looked back, Reaper Morse was shocked.

Scarlet Lily was fiercely pursuing her.

Even trying to lose her by flying between buildings, the distance hardly increased.

Their speeds were equal.

The only option was to fight with technique.

Reaper Morse sharply changed direction at an intersection.

Executing an evasive maneuver that was hard to follow.

She tried to shake her off by entering an alley where a mistake could easily make her hit a signboard, but Scarlet Lily casually avoided the trap and chased right behind her.

“What the hell is that girl? Why doesn’t she get tired!?”

Anxiety gradually crept in.

Putting aside her pride being hurt, there was simply no breakthrough.

Flying consumed magical power severely.

That’s why magical girls usually fight on the ground, and why Reaper Morse took charge of aerial battles during the Angelic Luna era.

Her magical power would run out soon.

She had to use some trick.

“If only I could teleport…”

Teleport, a magic used for returning, had strict conditions.

You had to be still, and the casting time was long.

Even if prepared quickly, it took at least ten seconds.

“You look tired, isn’t it time to realize you can’t escape?”

Scarlet Lily said from behind with a relaxed expression.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Spurred by stubbornness, she increased her speed.

What irritated her more was the girl’s attitude.

For some reason, she didn’t attack.

Was it because she worried civilians might get hurt if she missed?

Or because she could catch her without needing to?

Whatever the reason, it didn’t change the fact that she was being underestimated.

She had to show her strength.

Reaper Morse spun her body 180 degrees while maintaining her flight direction.

“Flare Spark!”

Pop pop!

Flashes like camera flashlights burst repeatedly.

This was a technique to blind the enemy’s vision.

By dazzling with intense light to exploit openings, but Reaper Morse instead descended to the ground instead of fighting.

“Serves you right!”

She increased the distance running through a narrow street.

After stopping, wiping sweat from her forehead, she cast teleport.

White light began to envelop her body.

Five seconds ahead.

She could land a hit on that proud Scarlet Lily!

Reaper Morse was excited, but…

“Got you.”

A hand was placed on her shoulder.

A sensation as if her spine froze.

Just as she turned around with a hardened face, Reaper Morse’s consciousness cut off.

She had panicked when hit by a flashbang-like technique before.

But since she sensed her magic and found her, a brief dazzling light wouldn’t work.

She immediately followed and knocked her out.

Having only mingled with the fifth generation, she had been careless, but Reaper Morse was skilled enough to be compared to the third generation.

Her magical proficiency, her sense of using the surroundings — flawless in every aspect.

She was a respectable magical girl who could hold her own.

Yet she wore strange clothes and stained her hands with evil.

Her talent was wasted.

“Ugh…”

Reaper Morse, sitting in a chair, groaned as if waking from sleep.

Then, startled, she opened her eyes wide.

“W-Where is this!? Where did you bring me?”

She struggled back and forth, but she was tightly bound with chains and couldn’t move.

The clinking noise of metal echoed loudly.

“This is a container, as you can see.”

Me, Frozen Princess, and Aurora Lola — the three of us looked down at the insolent junior.

“W-What are you trying to do…?”

Her voice became small, as if frightened.

“Angelic Luna, what were you doing up on that building?”

“I told you, I dropped that name! I’m Reaper Morse now!”

“Why would you want to use such a villainous name? Angelic Luna sounds nice and cute.”

It might not match the edgy outfit supposedly seen around Hongdae Station, but still.

She was more like a fallen angel than a real one.

“Because it’s cool. I’m done with names that sound like they belong in little girls’ anime.”

She said it nonchalantly, but to me, it felt like just another phase. Aurora Lola cracked her knuckles with a menacing pop.

“She’s kind of annoying. Should we just start with torture?”

“Eek!”

Reaper Morse’s face went pale.

“That’s not very magical girl-like. We can’t forget our sense of aesthetics.”

“Can’t be helped~. Lily’s just too much of a traditionalist.”

She said that, but I doubt Aurora Lola really meant it.

“……?”

“You’re from the third generation. Why do you follow Scarlet Lily?”

Reaper Morse shot a sharp question.

“In this line of work, the stronger one is the senior. Didn’t you know that?”

“Still, bowing to the whims of a junior………….”

“Then get as strong as Lily if you don’t like it.”

Classic Lola.

Quick on her feet.

With her influencer skills and streaming experience, she had a way with words.

Having her as an ally was a huge asset.

“This came out of your body.”

Frozen Princess held up a jet-black Magical Gem.

It’s the crystallized magical power you get when you make a contract with a mascot.

This was the source of the unsettling aura I felt.

“……So what if it did.”

“A gem turned black means you’ve fallen, right?”

“It’s not mine. It might look similar, but that’s just a tool.”

“And what does it do?”

“I don’t know.”

A blatant lie.

“I’ll just grab some torture tools real quick. Now, where did I put those pliers…”

“Ah, okay, okay! I’ll talk! Just don’t bring those out……!”

“You should’ve done that from the start.”

Turned out, she was more timid than she let on.

She and Aurora Lola seemed like a good match in that regard.

“That’s a Dark Magical Gem. If you use it near a Gate, it can replicate itself.”

I’d never heard of anything like that before.

Aurora Lola and Frozen Princess looked just as puzzled.

“Where did you get it?”

“I got it in the mail. It came with a letter saying if I followed the instructions, I’d be recruited into a certain organization.”

“What organization?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t say anything about it.”

“And you still went along with it?”

Monsters harm people.

Expanding Gates is a forbidden act for any magical girl.

“I didn’t follow their orders……………!”

When I shot her a glare, Reaper Morse quickly tried to defend herself.

“After all that chaos, you expect us to believe that?”

“It must have been someone else! I wasn’t the only one invited to that party!”

“Party?”

“It was in the letter. It was like an initiation test or something.”

Referring to a monster rampage as a ‘party,’ huh?

It seemed like a setup to weed out those willing to follow orders and join their ranks.

“And you were just leisurely watching from the rooftop?”

“I was just trying to see if the others could handle it.”

“So you weren’t using a Dark Magical Gem yourself while watching the show?”

“Of course not! I’m not going to trust some stranger’s words! Those are just disposable tools. I just had one left over!”

She insisted on her innocence, claiming she only wanted to confirm the truth for herself.

“So you were just testing the waters to see which side to take?”

“No, no, that’s not it! I was planning to step in if things got dangerous!”

Aurora Lola’s remark made Reaper Morse look away.

So she really was just hedging her bets.

“The mastermind won’t be easy to catch.”

This wasn’t something to take lightly.

Just when I thought I could step back from the front lines, things had gotten complicated.

“So, what now? Maybe plucking a few nails will get her to spill the rest?”

“Too much! I already told you everything as promised!”

Whether to believe her or not.

In any case, torture was off the table.

I had a different idea.

“Enough with the jokes. I’ve thought of another way.”

“What is it?”

If the mastermind chose Reaper Morse, there had to be a reason.

If we waited, they would likely reach out again.

That’s when we’d strike.

“Take out your Magical Gem.”

I pulled up a chair to sit face-to-face with Reaper Morse.

“A Magical Gem is basically a magical girl’s life force. I’m not just going to hand it over!”

“……Fine, I’ll do it.”

She knew there was no point resisting.

Once I untied the ropes, glowing particles of light gathered in Reaper Morse’s hands.

What appeared was a clear, crystalline orb.

A perfectly normal Magical Gem, nothing like the dark one from earlier.

I took it in my hand and focused my mind.

Sensing the unique magical signature within, I committed it to memory.

“Alright, we’re done.”

I handed it back, and Reaper Morse absorbed it back into her body.

Technically, it fused back into her core.

“Now I can track you no matter where you go.”

“You can do that?”

“It’s just a little trick. Not much use in real combat.”

Aurora Lola looked impressed.

With that, the worry of her escaping was dealt with.

Before unchaining her, I made a proposal.

“You, become a double agent.”