Chapter 57 : To Meet You

On the last day of the friendly match, the audience and 1-star magical girls trembled.

It even surpassed the heightened expectations from the thrilling fights of the 1-star girls.

“…”

“…”

The fights of born 2-star magical girls were not just about fighting well, but the scale of their given abilities and light was different.

“This is… the power of 2-stars…”

It was a feast of enormous power that seemed hopeless even to imagine how to counter it.

“What kind of fight is [Flame] having?!”

The magical girls got goosebumps just from the fact that [Flame], a born 1-star, was fighting on equal terms with them.

The fight between a yellow giant and a golden angel.

A light blue warrior and dozens of beasts wrapped in fallen leaves.

Red flames traversing a navy blue fortress.

A green storm and dark green mist.

Ten minutes felt like an eternity, and they were so overwhelmed by the intensity emanating from them that they couldn’t utter a word.

The golden angel swung a shining saw and defeated the giant.

The light blue warrior completely shattered the beasts wrapped in fallen leaves.

Red flames burned brilliantly inside the navy blue fortress.

The dark green mist that had newly bloomed was pushed back under the green storm.

It wasn’t just an act for showmanship.

It wasn’t an artificially created movie scene.

The girls seriously engaged in battle while exerting abilities that caused tremors just by watching.

They finally witnessed the true power of magical girls with their own eyes.

“A-amazing…”

“Those girls quietly obey traffic lights and pay at convenience stores?”

“If [Beginning] hadn’t spread her domain, those girls would have been rampaging around?”

“So something more incredible than we thought happened in Kabukicho…!”

“Captain Himari is so cool! Beautiful! Thrilling!”

“The Green Vigilante is quite something too!”

“[Flame] is a god!!!”

“This is what magical girls are…!”

Wooooaaahhhh!

Overwhelming power becomes an object of awe just by existing.

Though smaller than [Beginning], who is treated almost like a natural phenomenon due to being so overwhelming, the fight of 2-star girls whose clear forms could be confirmed was more beautiful than any drama.

And the following fights.

The angel burned in flames.

The warrior was pushed back by the storm.

Now, among the 64 1-star magical girls and 7 2-star magical girls in the arena.

Only the two strongest girls remained.

One of those girls stood there with a single purpose.

* * *

“You’re really amazing. Are you really a born 1-star? Even the Sato kid couldn’t do this much.”

Ichika looked at Yuki with truly admiring eyes. Not just her combat ability, but her skillful coping ability and analytical skills were something she really wanted to learn from.

Fidget

The very Yuki who received the praise was restless and couldn’t make eye contact with Ichika.

‘The, the terrorist leader is praising me…’

Yuki hesitated for a while, feeling awkward.

“What’s this, you were so tough during the fight but now you’re shy.”

“Th-that aside, aren’t you going to take out your flag?”

“Flag? What flag?”

“The orange flag you always take out when fighting… you don’t have it?”

“I don’t have one.”

Ichika said with a grin as she raised both fists to Yuki.

“These are my weapons.”

“H-heh…”

Strange.

The first trademark that comes to mind for the leader of the rebel group FLAG is the orange flag used as a weapon.

‘That thing of going around swinging it with comrades’ names engraved and blood splattered was really brutal…’

Yuki quietly accepted that something must have changed.

Anyway, in the changed past, Fujimoto had become a fool regarding magical girl issues, and the group called FLAG was never established in the first place.

Yuki quietly gathered her thoughts.

A fight to meet [Beginning].

Until she catches her eye.

Until she comes to find me.

I will fight with all my might.

Wooooaaahhhh!!!

The cheers of the audience.

The arena specially prepared for the final fight was not a marble-floored space with roses blooming around, but a circular arena made of rainbow-colored glass.

Pat

Ichika patted Yuki’s back.

The look of struggle in her eyes, not caring about the outcome of winning or losing, but still wanting to win.

“Let’s fight our best and have fun!”

A fun fight…

For Yuki, those words were as awkward a combination as cold hot chocolate.

For Yuki, fighting was just painful and lonely.

But now she understood the meaning of those words a little.

“Yes.”

Yuki quietly nodded.

Watch me.

‘[Beginning]…!’

The two entered the shining arena.

Wooooaaahhhh!!

“Yes!! Finally!! It’s finally the last match!! The only survivor among the amazing 2-star magical girls, [Freedom]!! And her opponent is none other than!!”

Wooooaaahhhh!!!

“The myth of the most consecutive wins, rising from the very bottom!! The hero of 1-stars!! The legend of flames sweeping across the battlefield!! The magical girl of [Flame]!!!”

[Flame]!!

[Freedom]!!

[Flame]!!

[Flame]!!

[Flame]!!

While there were not a few voices cheering for Ichika, who had shown the legend of the Green Vigilante and overwhelming skill, people cheered for Yuki who had risen from the bottom most of all.

“Huh, if I beat you, I’ll be treated like a complete villain, huh?”

Ichika laughed for a moment, then stopped abruptly.

Grrrr…

Green glowing eyes.

A green storm unfolded around Ichika, whose expression had turned blank.

Simply analyzing the enemy and winning.

The enhancement-type ability possessed by the magical girl of [Freedom] was simple and powerful.

As she felt Ichika’s fighting instinct scanning everything, Yuki also raised her energy.

Wooooaaahhhh!

[Flame]!!

The hearts cheering for Yuki gathered and were absorbed into the red star.

Though not enough to raise a light, it was just enough to produce output half a step short of 2-stars.

She had always followed two or three steps behind others.

Half a step is no different from being ahead for her.

[Flame] Magical Girl’s Unique Skill

Red Flame Spark

Whoosh!

Red flames rose from the ground against the green storm. Though small in size, they were definitely dominating the space.

Bang!

Avoiding the incoming green true angle, Yuki quickly created a flame scale.

Imitating [Plague].

She couldn’t recreate even a speck of the authority she possessed, but Yuki’s elemental magic was as free as an emission type, so she could apply the principle.

Click

The flame scale imitating the black scale of greed moved, gradually absorbing the green storm and changing it into red flames. It was a very slow speed, but the space Yuki dominated was expanding.

Whoosh

“Ugh!”

A fist imbued with green energy grazed past Yuki’s head, which she barely avoided, and blood flowed from her cheek.

No matter how much future knowledge she drew upon, she couldn’t overcome the absolute difference in output.

“Still, I have to buy time!”

Ichika shot forward in a straight line, her green eyes flashing.

Yuki raised her flame sword and engaged in a fierce exchange with the charging Ichika.

Bang bang bang bang

Every time the sword and fist collided, pure physical force and heat spread with explosive sounds.

‘There’s no killing intent! This is just a test too!’

She could only rely on experience to predict Ichika’s fighting path and bring her sword to meet fists coming at a speed her eyes couldn’t follow.

Boom!

“Kyah?! Ugh…”

Even that didn’t work against Ichika, who was accustomed to struggle even before becoming a magical girl. Deflecting the flame sword that was brought up recklessly, Ichika threw a light punch.

Whoosh!

Yuki gritted her teeth and spread a curtain to deflect it.

Swoosh!

The feint that had no killing intent turned into a true strike, curving towards Yuki’s head.

Death.

Yuki sensed the moment of death she had felt tediously after blooming the alias of [Resurrection]. At that moment, she put one spell into the scale that had become barely capable of executing commands.

She let go of the sword in her hand and tightened her neck with telekinesis as much as possible.

Bang!

Ichika’s fist, imbued with tremendous force, hit Yuki’s head.

Silence.

“…”

3 seconds

She had blown off her head. The fighting instinct signaled that the fight was over, but something felt strange.

Yuki, who had tried to avoid any attack until now, had taken a hit.

2 seconds

‘She just couldn’t avoid it because she was fooled by the feint?’

That could be the case.

1 second

But Ichika felt some uneasiness and pulled back her fist again for a finishing blow.

Click

Flinch

Ichika felt the flame scale that had been quietly absorbing power from behind move and turned around. At that moment, the scale absorbed all the red flame space and disappeared.

Rustle

“Ugh…?!”

Ichika’s vision was split exactly in half.

When she looked forward, Yuki, whose face had completely disappeared, was swinging a large scythe while spewing flames.

“Ugh…”

Her eyes, contorted from enduring the pain still felt after regenerating her face, burned with red light.

Ichika felt that she couldn’t use the left half of her body for a moment after receiving that scythe attack.

‘The attack is shallow but strange…’

Something more fundamental than physical dismemberment had been attacked.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Ichika’s Six Harmonies Fist, drawn with green energy, and Yuki’s large scythe made of flames clashed.

Booooom

Explosion.

Wooooaaahhhh!

What was seen after the smoke cleared was Ichika with the sword Yuki had dropped earlier pierced in her left chest, and Yuki staggering with both hands that had been holding the scythe blown off.

“A miraculous victory!!! The winner of the 1st Magical Girl Friendly Mock Battle is!!! The born 1-star!! The magical girl of [Flame]!!!”

Woong

With the vibration, the two returned to their original state.

Woaaah!

“Wow! That! What was that! The scythe and the scale! It was really so cool!”

Ichika excitedly asked about the decisive factor of defeat that even her fighting instinct had failed to interpret.

“Haha, well… there’s something like that.”

Yuki hedged, feeling that Ichika probably wouldn’t believe her even if she explained.

“Interview! Interview!”

[Reporting] came running from far across the arena with sparkling eyes.

“Oh, and there are prizes for the top 4 rankers! Here you go! Magical girl of [Freedom]!”

Heave-ho!

The large gift box was luxuriously wrapped in lavender wrapping paper.

“Oh, thank you!”

Rustle

Rustle

Ichika hurriedly opened the box right there. Ignoring the luxury brand clothes, headphones, and cosmetics, she searched for the item she desperately wanted.

It was a smartphone sponsored by an American company for the purpose of indirect advertising to gain influence over magical girls.

“Kyaaaah! This is it! This is life!!”

Ichika, who roared towards the sky, hugged the gift box to her chest and disappeared with excited steps.

[Reporting] was flustered by that excessively materialistic behavior, but judged that the company would be satisfied seeing her excited reaction broadcast.

“Magical girl of [Flame]! You’ve achieved an amazing victory! Everyone in Walpurgis is probably watching!”

“Really…?”

That person too?

I wonder if she saw me acting so flashy.

“It-it’s not that great…”

Yuki, who had been scratching her cheek, thought for a moment.

“…”

Does [Beginning], who shouted about dreams and hope, know what’s going to happen in the future?

Her actions thoroughly checked Fujimoto and protected Korea, China, Europe, etc. from the Scavengers’ rampage…

No way.

No way.

No way…!

Thump thump thump thump

Yuki’s heart raced due to the sudden thought of ‘no way’ and the fear of being treated as a strange person by [Beginning].

“[Flame]?”

Tremble tremble

Yuki, with a bit of expectation and trembling in her voice…

Said to her.

“I have something I want to tell the magical girl of [Beginning].”

“…I’ll be waiting at the place where [Alliance]’s [Shelter] is.”

* * *

As soon as I heard those words, I ran like mad.

The Alliance’s shelter was… a term that existed only in the original work, not now.

And it appears after January next year.

No way.

No way.

No way…!

The her I know is waiting for me.

The her I know called for me.

Not as the 27-year-old Sim Hyun-woo.

Not as the 15-year-old Hikari.

I ran to her as the 15-year-old Sim Hyun-woo who had picked up and read <Magical Girl HAZARD> from a used bookstore.