Chapter 23: The Story Begins (6)

Heosang’s steps as she exited the solitary cell were exceptionally light.

Even Byeolmu-ri could sense how uplifted Heosang was.

Perhaps it was because she was relieved that Janwol’s magical girl, Ianna, had awakened safely.

To her eyes, Ianna had seemed beyond saving.

It was clear at a glance that her internal organs were a complete mess—she’d sustained fatal injuries.

It was as if she’d taken the full brunt of the Misangche attack head-on.

(TL NOTE: Misangche appears to be mysterious or monstrous entities that attack magical girls.)

She had lost countless comrades this way.

She thought Ianna too would meet such a death.

Of course, it was karma.

That sly and shadowy Ianna, who had been hiding her true nature all this time, had chosen to cling to Han Hojoon—a man she didn’t even deem worthy of calling “father”—just to survive.

That was the price she paid.

She’d made herself a shield for the Bureau, suppressing the discontent of other magical girls.

That was her price to pay.

So Heosang had tried not to care about Ianna’s death…

But she couldn’t forget the moment she held Ianna’s fragile body in her arms.

Back then, Ianna’s heartbeat was faint.

Or rather, it was practically non-existent.

Her complexion was alarmingly pale, and the blood she coughed up was tinged with a blue liquid—the same kind that artificial girls would exude upon death.

Discomfort.

Heosang had felt a profound unease at how starkly Ianna’s current state contrasted with the noble image of the magical girl she had always been.

She’d thought about it constantly while locked up in solitary.

Ianna had been the idol of all magical girls.

Even Heosang herself had once admired her.

Ianna never hesitated to risk her life.

She never held back.

Wherever the most dangerous enemy lurked, that’s where Ianna went.

She seemed indifferent to the fear of death.

Her justice was always directed toward the weak.

Toward people society treated like filth.

She had always cared about her comrades.

Treated other magical girls like sisters and spared no effort to support them.

She even reinvested every last scrap of the Bureau’s meager bounty fees back into them.

That’s the kind of girl Ianna was—a magical girl worthy of leadership, a saint in her own right.

All magical girls succumb to madness eventually.

It starts with hallucinations, then auditory or visual delusions.

They forget everything they’ve ever known, go mad with a thirst for power, or become obsessively fixated on something.

The symptoms vary.

Some are linked to Lemegeton.

Some remain semi-functional.

Others, like the “Pleading Magical Girl,” must be fully restrained.

Many magical girls have exhibited a range of madness.

But not Ianna.

In her once-clear eyes, before they dulled, there had been not a trace of madness.

Gradually, little by little…

Using Lemegeton’s power felt like sinking into a bottomless swamp.

All magical girls eventually manifest a corrupted nature that erodes their sanity—but with Ianna, there was none of that.

Logically speaking…

Someone like Ianna, who had maintained a consistent path for decades, would never sacrifice her comrades.

To believe that she had suddenly grown attached to life and submitted to the Bureau made no sense. Ianna wouldn’t disgrace herself to survive.

That was the conclusion Byeolmu-ri had reached.

And if—

If Ianna was not in her right mind, if her body had been altered into that of an artificial girl, if a cognitive suppression chip had been implanted into her brain, and she was being controlled by the Bureau and her father Han Hojoon…

If that thing wearing Ianna’s skin was someone—or something—else…

Her intuition screamed.

Her rational mind was starting to accept that Ianna was not in her normal state.

But—

Her heart didn’t want to believe it.

Because that would mean giving Ianna a pass.

It would justify all her actions thus far.

The magical girls who had died would not return.

The Bureau’s failures couldn’t be undone.

Whether Ianna was of sound mind or not, whether she was being controlled or not, whether she was truly Ianna or not—

She still had to be held accountable.

“Urgh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

She was disgusted.

Disgusted at herself for having thought that way.

The nausea was unbearable.

The fact that she had despised a possibly mindless Ianna filled her with loathing.

That wasn’t justice.

If her hypothesis turned out to be true, and Ianna had indeed lost her mind—then holding her accountable was unthinkable.

If Ianna was just a puppet.

If she was being controlled by those worms…

She would make a decision.

She would slaughter every last insect.

Leave none behind.

If they had turned Ianna, the hero who’d protected them all her life, into such a state—

She would end it with her own hands.

She no longer wanted to see those vermin breathing.

Humans treated magical girls as tools to be used and discarded.

But magical girls weren’t bound by some moral obligation to protect the weak.

That ideology came from Ianna’s teachings.

Abandoning it would take only a moment.

Magical girls have will. They have identity.

Those humans didn’t even realize whose hand held the blade.

They were drunk on the peace earned by magical girl sacrifices and had lost touch with reality.

She would kill them all.

Kill and keep killing.

Leave no one behind, so that no seeds of vengeance could ever sprout.

She would massacre every human in the world.

Because they were filth. Because they were cancer.

What came after didn’t matter. It didn’t deserve her concern.

And when it was all over—

She would save Ianna.

To repay even a fraction of what magical girls owed her, she would fight for her until the very end.

She would make her free.

No matter what it took.

“Byeolhwa, are you okay?”

“…Yeah.”

“Let’s hurry. I need to talk to Janwol face-to-face.”

Heosang hurried off toward the infirmary.

Cheonching followed close behind, smartphone in hand.

…Could they be trusted with the truth?

Heosang’s magical girl Harsa might have seemed normal on the outside, but she had long since descended into madness.

Having spent so long around the Bureau, Byeolmu-ri could tell.

The idea that Ianna was being controlled—or wasn’t herself—was only a theory.

It could be wrong.

If it turned out that Ianna had simply awakened to her own selfish human desires and issued those orders of her own free will…

She wouldn’t forgive her.

She would inflict a suffering greater than any that had ever existed in this world.

She could swear to that.

She didn’t know what direction Harsa’s mind was headed in.

But it wouldn’t be mild.

It would be extreme, catastrophic.

If she hinted even slightly about her theory to Harsa, and Harsa—whose mind was no more stable than Aewon’s—were to go berserk…

It would undoubtedly affect Ianna.

Harsa’s uncontrollable emotions would harm Cheonching, Ianna, and everyone around her.

Heosang’s Lemegeton was unimaginably powerful.

A force so rare and destructive it could bring down entire nations.

No one could predict the damage Heosang’s rampage might cause.

She wouldn’t care if only those disgusting vermin were wiped out.

But magical girls would suffer.

And in the worst possible way.

So for now, she would gather more information.

She would approach Ianna, assess her condition, and act accordingly.

She wouldn’t tell the others.

Not yet.

She had at least seen Heosang face-to-face many times.

But not Cheonching.

The newbie magical girl was still a mystery.

Especially the vast amount of ether flowing within her body—it made Byeolmu-ri’s spine crawl.

Anyone with that much ether should already be insane or out of control.

That was always the case in her experience.

Cheonching’s eyes were hidden behind long crimson bangs.

She was beautiful, yes, but something about her felt deeply off.

Her exotic uniform made of Lemegeton also deterred others from getting close.

She was smiling—but it wasn’t real.

Byeolhwa, who had herself been avoided since childhood just for being “unpleasant,” could sense the bizarre aura surrounding Cheonching.

Since Ianna, Heosang had never taken on a single partner.

Yet now, she was raising Cheonching herself, teaching her everything about being a magical girl.

Even Cheonching’s power was strange.

The ability to kill exactly half of all even-numbered organisms.

No magical girl in recorded history had ever had such a power.

It was too similar to the Misangche.

The moment she realized that, she felt a chill crawl up her neck.

But she didn’t dwell on it.

Right now, Ianna mattered more than Cheonching.

“We’re here.”

[Please enter.]

Hiss…

The infirmary door opened.

And they were met with the sight of Ianna, trembling in the arms of her lieutenant—and Han Hojoon, her father.

Huh-sang was the first to approach Ianna.

“…Janwol.”

Though her voice was somber—

She was smiling.