For What Do You Fight? -1

Ppyong-Ppyong gazed at the flesh chunks, lost in contemplation.

‘This is truly unpleasant.’

It was unpleasant. To suddenly invade like this, where was the decency in that?

‘Still as unreasonable as ever, that one.’

He had only wanted to see the friendship drama created by a man named Shin Hyun and then leave. But work was work, unavoidable.

He designated landing spots for the flesh chunks falling from the sky. The destination was directly above their heads.

He could see the magical girls in terrible shape, looking like they might collapse at any moment. Their eyes reflected confusion and fatigue.

That was natural after such an intense battle.

In the midst of this, Iris stepped forward.

“…First, issue an evacuation order. We’ll try to hold out as long as we can.”

It was the attitude befitting a team leader. If she hadn’t been in such a state, he might have felt intimidated.

What a shame. To lose such interesting beings here.

No, perhaps it wouldn’t necessarily end that way.

Sirens wailed as the flesh chunks collided with sickening sounds. Those things, looking like clumps of finely chopped meat, sprouted tentacles and began to walk.

Truly a disgusting sight.

“…Ugh…!”

Iris held back her nausea and threw a punch.

BOOM!

The meat chunk shattered with an explosive sound.

Surprisingly, they were putting up quite a fight. For having used up their strength, they were holding out well, trying their best to minimize casualties.

However.

“They’re still coming!”

Stella’s voice, who had been firing arrows, trembled loudly and then—

“Ugh…!”

She fell to her knees on the ground. The starlight faded, and she reverted to Lee Taehwa.

“Damn it… why at this timing…!”

“I can’t go on either…”

The other magical girls were in the same state. Black Heart reverted to Yul, and Natalia to Seo Jin-ah.

Only Iris could hold out a little longer with Kyukyu’s help.

But even that was just a matter of time.

Iris was certain.

‘I don’t have enough power…’

They had just finished an intense battle. It would be strange if their bodies were fine.

She turned her gaze to look at her companions who had lost their transformations. And most importantly, the person most precious to her—the mister.

‘Can I fight while protecting them?’

The answer was impossible.

It was impossible to fight while protecting everyone. Against the flood of enemies, she had to protect four ordinary people.

Screams erupted from everywhere.

Iris gritted her teeth.

Even now, the monsters kept coming.

“…Hide in there for now!”

With a great flash of starlight, the surroundings were enveloped in radiance.

+++++

“Why…”

Why was that guy coming already? It didn’t make sense. Based on timing, it should clearly be next week.

Did something intervene?

No, come to think of it, my very presence here is a kind of intervention, so it’s not strange.

The problem is that we’ve fallen into a serious crisis because of it.

“We need to go out and help them…!”

“…If only we had saved a little strength…”

“Let’s wait for headquarters to contact us first. If we stay here—”

CRASH! The sound came with an ominous feeling.

We were in a small shopping mall building. Just the first floor, second floor, and underground parking—a very small building.

It wasn’t a place where we could hide for long. Those creatures were clearly tracking the magical girls.

‘Lust, you bastard.’

He must really have taken a liking to those girls. Seeing how persistently he was chasing them.

‘Should I transform?’

As I was about to call Kkomul-i, I swallowed hard. I wanted to hide somewhere and transform, but—

“Th-there…!”

“Shh…!”

It seemed monsters were already crawling all around us. The sound from earlier was probably them breaking through the door.

I’m afraid something might happen to the exhausted girls if I leave them. Which means if I’m going to transform, I have to do it here.

And that would mean—

‘Revealing my identity.’

I looked at the monsters tightening their encirclement. The creature follows the lingering traces of magical energy.

If we stay here, we’ll be discovered.

“Everyone, follow me quietly.”

We moved quietly, hunched over, toward the underground parking lot. Our progress was slow. Everyone was too exhausted to lift their feet properly.

Perhaps because of that—

“…Stop.”

It seems we were a bit late even for the underground parking.

Squish. Squelch.

Crack. Crunch.

The sounds of flesh being torn and chewed, bones being crushed and pulverized.

“What is… that…”

“Ugh…”

“Yul… just hang on a little longer…”

One monster was having its meal time. The victim was a middle-aged man. Judging by his attire, he appeared to be the owner of this small shopping mall.

‘Was he trying to escape in his car when he was caught?’

A car with keys still in it stood silent in front of him. He must have been attacked by one of the creatures that entered the basement just as he was trying to open the door.

Yul sobbed at the horrific sight. The others maintained their silence, but their expressions were frozen solid.

To get them out of here safely, we absolutely need that car… but in this situation…

‘…Ha… I have no choice.’

Their survival comes first.

Hidden behind a wall, I stretched out my hand and aimed at the monster. Luckily, the lighting was creating shadows.

As I clenched my fist tightly—

SWOOSH!

Tentacles pouring from the monster’s shadow pierced it. The shadow tentacles, like skewers, tore the monster to pieces.

Well, I’ve done it now.

“…Sigh…”

I stepped forward and opened the car door. This was definitely the right car. A large, nice car with a full tank of gas.

Since it’s fucking huge, it probably has fucking good power too.

“…Sir, I’ll be borrowing this.”

The girls looked at me with wary eyes as I returned with the keys.

They’ve fought quite a bit with Kraken. They wouldn’t have missed recognizing the technique just now.

“…You.”

“I understand what you want to say.”

“Who exactly… are you?”

It was Seo Jin-ah speaking.

I just gave her a slight smile.

“Jin-ah.”

“…”

“Take this. Just get in that car.”

I tossed one key to Jin-ah.

“Where did you… get this?”

“It belonged to that person. Not much use to someone who’s already dead.”

Jin-ah made a grim expression at my words.

“…Why are you helping us? No, why are you even…”

I raised a finger in a gesture to be quiet. This isn’t the time for unnecessary discussion.

“I hope we’ll have time to talk later. Shouldn’t getting out of here be the priority now?”

“…”

“What comes first? My identity? Or the safety of the kids?”

“…I’m not confident in my driving…”

Jin-ah accepted the car key with a displeased expression.

“Wait a minute. Noah hasn’t come back yet.”

“That’s right. Let’s wait, I’ll go get Noah—”

CRASH!

“…She’s here.”

Iris arrived with perfect timing. To be precise, she rolled in.

Through the ceiling of the underground parking lot.

As soon as she arrived, she urgently called out:

“Run quickly! They’ll be coming here soon!”

“Noah, release your transformation and get in the car.”

“You’re escaping by car? Alright, I’ll stay behind.”

“Noah. Get in quickly. Don’t make me repeat myself. I’ll stay behind.”

Iris flinched as if noticing the change in my demeanor. She spoke with a hesitant expression.

“But…”

“Na Noah.”

“What will you do if you stay, mister… if you stay—”

“Na Noah. Do you want to keep bothering this mister?”

“Uuu…”

Iris hung her head dejectedly. The sight pained my heart, but it couldn’t be helped.

If I don’t do this, Noah won’t get in the car.

Above all—

‘…It’s time to reveal everything.’

I don’t know how Noah will react once she knows my identity.

The other magical girls were watching us with confused expressions.

I understand.

Finding out your close acquaintance is suddenly the villain who’s been threatening you, and now he’s saying he’ll sacrifice himself? Honestly, if it were me, I’d also be thinking, “What the hell are you talking about?”

If we had more time, I would have explained everything.

“Na Noah, get in the car.”

“…No. I won’t go without you, mister.”

“Na Noah!!”

“What are you going to do if you stay alone! Are you trying to die!? I… I don’t want that! I can’t leave without you!”

“…Na Noah.”

“Let’s go together, okay? I won’t insist on staying alone. Let’s go together… please…”

After pondering for a while, I embraced her. Tears flowed and soaked the front of my chest, and as I gently stroked her head—

THWACK!

“Uh… uh…?”

“Just get in quickly.”

I struck the back of her neck hard, forcibly canceling her transformation. She staggered and collapsed to the floor, reverting to Noah’s form as her transformation ended.

Noah looked confused.

“How… such strength?”

“…Well, that’s how it is.”

“No… mister… don’t go…”

“I’m sorry. If I make it back alive, I’ll tell you everything.”

I put Noah in the car and slowly moved away from them.

“Now escape. I’ll try to buy as much time as possible.”

“…”

“What’s wrong? Still feel like you’re stealing? Don’t worry. If anyone asks where this car came from, answer clearly.”

“…”

“Tell them it was stolen by Kraken.”

Kraken.

At that word, Noah flinched.

“Kraken…? Is that guy here too?”

“…”

“That damned bastard… is he possibly working with them—”

“No, he’s not. I’m sure. I can state it definitively.”

“How would you know that, mister?”

Because Kraken is incredibly confused and hesitant right now. Wondering what to do, whether to speak or not.

Ah, I wish I could have kept this secret forever.

CRASH!

“They’re coming down from upstairs! We need to go now!”

As the car started, ready to drive away quickly, I smiled quietly at Noah and said:

“Because I am Kraken.”