The Line to Protect (5)

The Line to Protect (5)

“Here! Over here!”

“These crazy bastards!”

Within minutes of entering the test tube, I faintly heard the sound of sirens, and people came pouring in.

As expected, upon seeing the girls submerged alive in tanks, the rescue team was so shocked that I thought they were overreacting, and they began to move busily.

Soon, I began to hear the sound of one or two being taken out. The test tube I was in also had its automatically closed lid open, and then careful hands grabbed my body and pulled me out.

“Manager. Now…”

“Hurry up and save them! How do we know what those bastards have done to these kids’ bodies!”

As I kept my eyes closed, the firefighter who was wiping my rescued body and checking my health status like pulse and breathing scolded his subordinate.

Soon my eyes were forcibly opened, and a strong light came in.

“A-Are you okay…?”

He patted my shoulder gently and spoke carefully. It was always disappointing, but even I don’t have the ability to control pupil movement.

When I nodded slightly, he removed the respirator that was in my mouth and hurriedly wrapped a towel around my private parts.

“Wait a little. I-I’ll save all the other friends and come back.”

“Check the basement.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Because some kids were taken to the basement earlier.”

I gave him a hint, acting like a pitiful girl, as he was about to head towards the other children. His eyes widened at the news that there were people taken to the deeper basement, and he pulled out his radio to quickly send a transmission to go to the basement.

“Lie down and wait. Everything’s okay now.”

Then he left for another place. I watched him go with my eyes, then relaxed my body and flopped down.

“Is everything as you wanted?”

“…Yes. All that’s left is to crush that egg-headed Mammoth.”

“You say such things so easily. But I’m afraid because I feel like you might actually be able to do it.”

Ren sat down next to my lying face, flapping his big ears and shaking his head.

After lying like that for a while, I had my identity roughly checked, wrapped my body in a blanket, and was carried in the arms of a rescue worker to board an ambulance.

*

“Eun-seo… Eun-seo!”

“No. Don’t stop me. This time, I must catch them.”

Following the Mammoth incident, another shocking news hit South Korea.

While illegal villain organizations were common in this era, the fact that these criminals conducted human experiments on dozens of girls kidnapped from all over the country near the capital area was clearly something that would go down in history.

“Let’s move with the police, Eun-seo. They definitely have a connection with Mammoth. It’s dangerous to go alone!”

“…The police?”

After considering Director Oh Yun-seo’s urgent words, she, Magical Girl Aria and South Korean high school student Han Eun-seo, shook her head.

Of course, Oh Yun-seo’s expression was not good, and neither was hers.

Things had been a bit strange lately. Until then, she had been confident in her power, her sense of justice, her beliefs and actions. She believed without a doubt that she was doing the right thing.

But that certainty and confidence began to crumble at some point. She already had an idea of when that turning point was.

‘Tequilas. You…’

A girl with deep black as her personal color, with red eyes and flowing black hair, flashed through her mind as she gritted her teeth.

All these cracks began from the day she first met that girl. From the moment she was injured herself and broke that girl’s arm.

Ever since then, every time she encountered Tequilas, she had to taste a bitter experience.

“There’s no time. And if we move with the police, it won’t be much help in this case.”

“Eun, Eun-seo…”

Oh Yun-seo stammered in surprise at her muttered words. For the first time, Magical Girl Aria, who had been cooperating diligently with the authorities until now, began to have doubts.

The influence of this was also, still, likely due to the highest-risk-level Magical Girl Tequilas, whose identity remains mostly shrouded in mystery.

“I’m surprised. I didn’t expect you to contact me first, Aria.”

“Is everyone gathered?”

“That’s right.”

Aria looked at her colleagues who had been summoned in advance to the now-locked rooftop of the Management Bureau. They were all Magical Girls belonging to the same agency, so there was no possibility of betrayal.

“Even if we split it, the performance is enormous. We must catch them.”

“…The point to note is that they finally succeeded in that terrible experiment.”

She maintained her composure and reminded them of the information in response to her colleague’s enthusiasm.

At that moment, everyone’s faces hardened. They already knew what the terrible experiment Aria mentioned was.

One test subject subdued by Takillas. With a normal body and able to handle magic, but without orders, it’s like a doll without a self, doing nothing and thinking nothing.

“Those bastards…”

“The test subject is ultimately an innocent girl, a being that Magical Girls can’t touch. So keep that in mind, and if you have to fight, you’ll have to subdue them like Takillas did.”

“That cocky little brat said he’d kill Mammoth himself?”

When Aria mentioned Takillas, a Magical Girl wearing a large witch hat grumbled with a sullen face.

Aria could tell that all the Magical Girls gathered here were hostile towards Takillas. But she wasn’t like that now.

“Let’s go now. If we achieve results, maybe even Takillas might change.”

Remembering her bet with Takillas, Aria took the lead and flew into the sky.

The other Magical Girls did the same.

The clue to tracking was evil spirits. There were already numerous testimonies that the victims were possessed by evil spirits and made to kidnap surrounding girls.

“…What’s with her.”

It was the same school as usual. Only the atmosphere was still unsettled due to the recent series of incidents, including Mammoth.

Jeon So-hyeon, who had been attending school regularly these days, stood askew at the doorway of another class, clicking her tongue at the empty seat.

That empty seat clearly belonged to her friend Han Eun-seo, who had said incomprehensible things about going somewhere together and helping her develop and use her innate power when they parted.

The problem is that Han Eun-seo has been absent for three days on sick leave due to her activities as the magical girl Aria.

‘There’s definitely something going on, that’s for sure.’

In the end, she turned her back and bit her lip as she crossed the hallway. Honestly, objectively speaking, it was an unbelievable story. A magical girl? Having special powers?

But the reason Jeon So-hyeon, despite her unique personality, couldn’t take this matter lightly and was eagerly waiting for Han Eun-seo was because there was evidence.

That day, the blue lightning-like power that manifested to escape from a person possessed by an evil spirit.

Since that day, she had awakened to her spiritual power and had been seeing, touching, and hearing things that others couldn’t.

‘I want to confirm a bit more.’

She shook off the formless soul clinging to her ankle and sighed.

Honestly, she knew nothing about this kind of thing, so she had no choice but to cling more to Han Eun-seo, her only clue.

‘Come to think of it, they said some kids from the middle school section got involved. It’s not Su-jung, is it?’

With classes on the back burner, she was lost in thoughts about her abilities when she managed to recall the events from two days ago.

Two girls she had a connection with but hadn’t been able to check on due to being in the high school section and having a part-time job.

Knowing that this incident was related to evil spirits, she decided to make time to visit the middle school section.

“…Su-jung?”

“So-hyeon unnie. It’s been a while.”

However, when she visited that afternoon and met Kim Su-jung, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Jin-ah… Lee Jin-ah got involved in that? That… biological experiment?”

“Yes. They said she’s in the lab now. For examinations. So… so I haven’t seen her face for two days already.”

Maintaining her composure for now, Jeon So-hyeon followed Kim Su-jung into the room.

And the moment she saw the scene in that room, Jeon So-hyeon swallowed hard and quietly locked the door.

“Jin-ah, given her personality, doesn’t seem like the type who’d enjoy plastering her room with photos like this.”

“But I haven’t seen her face for over a day.”

“Moreover, these are all secretly taken photos. Pictures of her eating, changing clothes, studying, sleeping… everything.”

“But if I don’t show how much I like her this way, she’ll leave me too.”

Kim Su-jung’s tone suddenly changed as she stood with her back turned.

Jeon So-hyeon broke out in a cold sweat and quietly picked up a wrench that was hidden between books on the nearby bookshelf, unsure why it was there.

“Who are you?”

She declared. Kim Su-jung, who had been enveloped in a dark, writhing aura, suddenly turned around with blackened eyes.

“If you, show up, then, my enemy. You. The one who will, cut off, the connection between, Jin-ah and me.”

“Oh no… Aah!”

Although deeply possessed by an evil spirit, So-hyeon couldn’t bring herself to swing the wrench at her close friend who was lunging at her.

With a loud thud, the two bodies collided and rolled on the floor.

Despite receiving a strong impact to her abdomen and dry heaving, Jeon So-hyeon managed to grab Kim Su-jung’s arms that were trying to strangle her and barely held on.