Chapter 57: Goodbye, Blue Sky

“Aaaah, Unni, Unni.”

Rosa Alisa wept, her arms flailing as she stroked the lusterless, tangled blue hair.

“Unni, Unni…”

She hugged the unresponsive head tightly.

“Bring her back to life!!!”

She roared.

Tears streamed from her eyes, falling endlessly onto Glacia’s frozen head.

Alisa couldn’t bear to let it go, standing up while clutching it tightly in her arms.

“Give me Glacia unni back.”

It was a statement directed at Sanguine Obsidia, at the dozens of people frozen in silence, and at no one at all.

Because Glacia Azure was already dead.

Because they had arrived just a little too late.

Rosa Alisa stood up and walked forward.

Slowly, one step, two steps, she forced her legs to move as if dragging an unmoving body.

In front of her footprints, her tears mixed with melted ice, dust, and blood, creating murky puddles that stained the ground.

“Unni, Unni… aah, Unni…”

She walked in Sanguine Obsidia’s direction, and after a few steps,

her foot caught on a remaining, half-melted piece of ice, and she fell.

Glacia’s head, dropped by the fallen Alisa, landed a few steps ahead of her, rolling in the mire of dust and moisture from the melted ice on the asphalt, becoming blackened and soiled once more.

Alisa, still on the ground, dragged her scraped and bleeding knees, crawling heedlessly as the skin tore and became bloodied, to grab Glacia’s head and clutch it dearly once more.

Then she stood up again.

She took one step forward and fell again. This time, clutching the head to her chest, she fell to her side, caressing Glacia’s face as she lay there, burying her own face in the discolored, blood-matted blue hair, and sobbed quietly.

No one could open their mouths.

No one could move.

Only Alisa’s weeping echoed in the silent alley.

Only dark red tears flowed down her face, stained with blood and grime.

And then, just as suddenly, it became quiet again.

Alisa, who had been weeping and calling Glacia’s name, fell silent, her tears ceasing.

With unfocused eyes, she merely stared into Glacia’s dead, frozen pupils.

This time, she couldn’t get up again, remaining seated on the ground.

“…Alisa.”

Unable to watch any longer, Bistour Blanc approached and healed Alisa’s knees.

A green light flickered, and Alisa’s torn and bloody legs returned to their original, clean state, but her eyes—eyes that had lost their light, their form, and even their vitality and will—did not return to normal.

“Take Rosa Alisa to the rear. Recover Glacia Azure’s head as well. Given the situation, I doubt we can recover the entire body intact…”

Giving instructions to the two magical girls beside her, Blanc stood up and drew her Spirit Weapon.

It was a dark gold blunderbuss, clinging to the grimy blackness of the unlit alley.

Rosa Alisa meekly accepted the hands of the two people supporting her on either side and walked away.

On her lips, which held the severed head, a faint smile now hung.

“I am Bistour Blanc. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Sanguine Obsidia.

I have many grievances with you, and I’m sure every other magical girl here has her own thoughts. But just in case, I’ll ask you one last time,”

Her tone was level, her voice gentle.

But every magical girl present, except for Sanguine Obsidia, held her breath.

Because the smile that never left Blanc’s face, no matter the situation, had completely vanished.

Under the weight of her suppressed, immense magical power that pressed down on the surroundings, no one dared to speak.

“If, by any chance, you’re thinking of surrendering even now, I’ll accept it. If you surrender, hmm… yes.

I can grant you a painless death. At the very least, it won’t be painful.”

The moment after Blanc aimed her gun into the air and pulled the trigger, Sanguine Obsidia felt a sharp pain striking her back.

She had been keeping her eyes fixed on Blanc’s gun, observing it, yet a searing pain, as if a bullet had grazed the middle of her back, erupted.

But before she could even question the source of the pain, another magic circle appeared in the air. A circular, violet magic circle.

The magic power it emitted was less than the first bombardment but still immensely powerful, and from the instantly completed circle, a pillar of violet magic energy shot down vertically once more.

KWWAAAAAAA-

A second bombardment from Yu Ji-hye, aimed precisely at Sanguine Obsidia alone.

A precise long-range attack like this consumed a significant amount of magic, placing a burden even on Yu Ji-hye, but its effect was clear.

The first bombardment had inflicted considerable damage all over Sanguine Obsidia’s body.

Glacia Azure’s fierce battle had frozen her right hand and damaged her right shoulder, inflicting a severe injury that made it difficult to use her right arm at all.

Having expended a significant amount of magic, this second bombardment was meant to wear her down further, allowing the other magical girls to subdue her easily.

However, as the afterglow of the violet magic faded and the flash subsided, what appeared was the sight of Sanguine Obsidia, a thick, blood-red shield with a scorched and burned surface attached to her right arm.

***

‘I had beheaded Glacia Azure, stabbed a sword into her heart, and watched as her pulse finally stopped and her fallen body cooled, spilling blood, but I felt no joy, no pleasure.’

‘All that remained was the sound of my heart and the tumor pounding crazily, and an empty escape plan spinning idly in my head.’

‘I should have killed her as quickly as possible and fled, but things went wrong.’

‘At a terrible timing, the magical girls, the reinforcements, had arrived and already surrounded me.’

‘If what the magical girls and the police commanders were whispering about is true, the entire area I could escape to via spiritualization is already surrounded or in the process of being surrounded.’

‘Dangerous.’

‘Truly, dangerous.’

‘I shake off the encroaching fear, the dread that climbs my spine and prickles at the tips of my blood-soaked hair.’

‘The task is set, and there is only one way. To break through this encirclement and escape. That is all.’

[It’s not… not too late…]

“No, it’s late. Too late.”

‘I drove a nail into the ghost’s unconfident mumbling and ignored its trailing words. It would be great if this thing disappeared forever along with the other magical girls.’

‘I gather the remaining blood inside Glacia Azure’s headless corpse and the blood that has seeped into the asphalt, wrapping it around my right arm.’

‘Frozen, mixed with slimy water, and coagulated, but it was the blood of a magical girl who had wielded considerable magic just moments ago, so it was easy to manipulate.’

‘The skin, muscles, and ligaments of my right hand, frozen and torn, were a complete wreck, and the damage to my shoulder seemed to be spreading. Now, my right arm itself doesn’t move satisfactorily.’

‘In that case, I’ll give up on it.’

‘Since I can still move it through magical means, I’ll use it as a shield while it still has its form. The pain can be ignored.’

‘I form a thick shield by transforming my right arm with my blood, Glacia Azure’s blood, and dark magic.’

‘I raised it above my head and blocked the second bombardment raining down from the sky.’

‘This violet magic… I was too flustered the first time to realize it, but this is an attack from the Magical Girl Association’s head, Yu Ji-hye.

The same magic I felt from her when we encountered each other about eight months ago, half a year after I became Sanguine Obsidia.

The memory of being utterly defeated and having to flee pathetically came to mind.’

‘…A definite reason to escape quickly has just been added. Whether I can escape, I still don’t know.’

‘In any case, the second bombardment was easier to block.

I don’t know if it was because Glacia’s magic was still abundant in the blood, if the output was weaker, or if she deliberately weakened it considering the surrounding magical girls.’

Bang.

‘And another gunshot rings out. A small magical girl in a white lab coat with gray hair fired the short, Renaissance-era-looking gun she held.’

‘This time, it was aimed downwards, at the ground.’

“Ugh…!”

‘And I feel a pain in my left arm.

My palm was slightly torn and bleeding.

Looking around, the other magical girls seemed to be either yielding to her or were too suppressed by her presence to step forward, standing a step back while clutching their own weapons—swords, spears, staves, gun-like objects, large iron balls.’

‘And far behind, the dozens of heavily armed police officers surrounding this place are hiding behind riot shields, not even sticking out the muzzles of their pistols.’

‘Only Bistour Blanc stood, facing me as if she were the rightful representative of the fury of all those people, and of all the dead I had killed.’

‘I don’t know if it’s Bistour Blanc’s unique magic or if she’s using a special technique, but the attack she dealt and the wound I received did not match.’

‘The direction of the muzzle, the echo of the gunshot, the location of the wound, the pain from the wound—none of it connected, except for the fact that they happened simultaneously.

But there was no sign of any other magical girls attacking secretly.’

‘I had heard her name before. One of the magical girls with the longest careers, wasn’t she? I suppose I should have stolen some data on famous magical girls and studied up. Not that it would have made a difference.’

‘Looking around again, the other magical girls are just watching, surrounding me, holding their weapons, standing on the street, on the rooftops, on the walls.’

‘The two who took Rosa Alisa haven’t returned yet, and the police seem to be holding back, just watching.’

‘Perhaps the sight of Rosa Alisa wailing and sobbing was a mental shock. Well, seeing them when we met before, the bond between Glacia Azure and Rosa Alisa seemed quite close, so it’s understandable.

The friendly, sister-like appearance of the two who interrupted my precious time with Yujin is still vivid in my memory.’

‘In any case, it’s not like Yujin is hurt now, and Rosa Alisa has quietly exited, so it’s none of my business.’

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

‘Quickly stab Bistour Blanc to death, and using her blood as a medium, create a distraction with a spell that can kill the police—who are ultimately just armed civilians, even if killing all the magical girls at once is impossible—for example, by using a few dozen of the commonly used blood blades or chains.

Then, quickly escape via spiritualization, dispose of the few people at the exit point, and swiftly open a void passage to flee.’

‘I swing my left hand to shake off the bloodstains on the blade and readjust my grip on the rapier.’

‘Right after the opponent has fired her gun, while everyone else is still flinching. Now is the time.

In the same way I’ve stabbed the hearts of countless magical girls, I channel magic into my legs and left arm to strengthen them, crouch slightly, and kick off the ground to charge.’

Flick.

‘I instinctively turned my head, and a bullet grazed my left cheek. Bistour Blanc was holding the gun close to her chest, yet a bullet flew out. And,’

“Ah?”

‘The ground rose up to block me. No, the ground didn’t rise. I fell.’

‘I’m dizzy. The ground, the surface, the asphalt is spinning. My focus blurs, and everything seems to dance and rage.

I can feel the hilt in my left hand, but the jet-black blade I see, reflecting the faint moonlight, won’t stay still for a moment, spinning endlessly.’

‘It’s fine, I wasn’t hit in the head, and a magical trick on my senses is something…’

“Sanguine Obsidia.”

‘My unimpaired hearing caught that voice clearly.’

‘I heard the sound of small footsteps approaching me as I lay on the ground.’

“You… will not be able to wound me. And, from now on, you will not be able to wound anyone else.”

‘Because you will die now, by my hand, by my bullet.’