Chapter 65: Give Me Your Despair (3)

All the magical girls’ eyes were focused on the giant monster that suddenly appeared.

No matter how many attacks they made, it wouldn’t budge, but if they got hit by the monster’s giant tentacles, it would be considered a fatal wound.

If it weren’t for Sapphire’s defensive magic, the situation might have been serious.

“Everyone! We can do it!”

The magical girls, exhausted from breaking through the black clouds and the monsters inside, focused their eyes on Emerald.

The most famous of the magical girls present.

Just seeing her, just hearing her voice, was a shout that brought hope.

Swaaaaaaaaaah—

“Whoa?!”

“Dodge!!”

The water streams that poured intermittently were adding to the confusion in the battle.

The overwhelming mass broke through Sapphire’s defensive magic that only blocked despair.

It was said that she had a stronger body than ordinary people when transformed, but the shock of being hit by a truck was by no means something to be taken lightly.

In fact, some magical girls had fallen unconscious.

“Aim for the head!!”

Emerald shouted at the monster’s head rising above the water.

Upon closer inspection, the head that had been attacked by Emerald was oozing black blood.

Hope began to rise in the hearts of the magical girls who saw the enemy they thought they could not defeat being wounded.

Kyaaaa!

“What about Emerald?”

“Emerald must be tired too…”

“Whoa, it was really hard…”

I wondered for a moment about Emerald’s sudden disappearance.

The magical girls were starting to rest on the island.

They had no idea what was going on behind the island.

---

A red blade that protruded from behind Sapphire’s back was stabbing me right near my heart.

A surprise attack with murderous intent to kill me.

Although I couldn’t see it directly, I could tell who the magical girl was who had made this attack.

“…Ruby!!!”

With Sapphire’s shout, the blade was pulled out.

An attack that took advantage of the fact that magical girls do not take damage due to hope energy was literally filled with murderous intent.

“Keuk, gulp…!”

Unlike when I simply instilled hope, this attack…

“Give her that guy away, Sapphire.”

A growling voice.

Sapphire quickly turned around and glared at Ruby, but Ruby’s gaze was only focused on me.

Those eyes seemed to say that they would never stop until they killed me.

‘Certainly, this might be the best chance.

The other magical girls—especially Emerald—would eliminate me while I was distracted by that squid guy.

And they would do so while aiming for the moment when I was at my weakest.

It would have been easy for Ruby to time her surprise attack.

She would have just waited for the moment when the despair she felt from me subsided.

“No.”

“You heard the whole explanation.

If you let that guy live, everyone will be in danger.”

“…”

“That’s why you gave him hope, right? Right?”

Oh, so that’s why you suddenly said that you would give him hope, too.

The atmosphere seemed a little different from the last time I saw you; it seemed to be because of this.

Even though I was a mess, I wasn’t handing myself over to Ruby.

“Does Akari look dangerous to you?”

“Of course not?”

“Even after seeing this right now?”

Certainly, I do look sickly.

Even though I was in a state where my heart was stabbed and I was spitting out blood, I might not have looked dangerous at all from Sapphire’s perspective.

“Yes. Even in that state, she’s the one who’s dangerous, Sapphire.”

“…I don’t agree with you.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Ruby raised the hilt of her sword, raising the corners of her mouth at Sapphire’s refusal.

It seemed as if she was saying that she would kill me right here and now, no matter what.

“I’m confident that I can kill you even if you get in my way.”

“…Huh?!”

Certainly, the speed difference between Sapphire and Ruby was quite large.

It felt like they were barely able to dodge.

Sapphire didn’t mind getting hit by Ruby’s attacks, so she somehow managed to avoid the blade from reaching her.

Of course, it was impossible to dodge all of her attacks.

“You look good, Apocalypse. You’re being protected by the magical girl you were killing.”

“…”

It was quite a sight.

To think that she was spitting out blood just from being stabbed by Ruby’s blade.

As I let out a small sigh, the clot of blood stuck in my throat gushed out…

If this keeps up, I might really die.

For the first time in my life as a monster student, I felt a sense of crisis.

No matter what, a magical girl wielding a sword was too much, seriously.

“I’m sorry, Akari. I can’t stop Ruby’s attack with my own strength—”

“Huh…”

The blade, which had perfectly read Sapphire’s movements, stabbed me in the side.

Did magical girls have a hobby of poking holes in my body?

As I weakly screamed in time with the blade stabbing my side, Sapphire’s expression hardened.

Right, I should do something like this.

I thought that way, Sapphire would dodge the attack more desperately.

“Aren’t you ashamed of hiding behind the magical girl you killed so many times, Apocalypse!!”

“…”

Perhaps because her emotions were running high, the speed at which she swung her sword also began to get faster.

It is said that normal humans lose their sense of reason the more excited they get, but Ruby’s gaze was filled with only coolness.

Her eyes seemed to be thinking about how she could kill the enemy in front of her faster.

No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed that Sapphire alone would not be able to stop Ruby.

Look, the blade is flying towards my neck right now?

…I don’t know if I can survive even if my neck is cut off.

In the original, Apocalypse felt like no attack could work on him.

So, would he be able to endure even if he was fatally wounded in his current weakened state?

As if it had read my thoughts, the despair that had been dormant began to whisper to me.

[Are you really going to die here?]

[You didn’t even activate your despair circuit in such a dangerous situation?]

[Are you holding on like this just to cling to a magical girl?]

[I don’t understand.]

[Why don’t you just kill them all?]

[That’s how you were made.]

[Now that the other person is letting their guard down, this is a good opportunity.]

[Eliminate them.]

[Everything.]

They say that when your body becomes weak, your heart also becomes weak, and the despair that I normally couldn’t hear began to tempt me.

He told me to hurry up and activate the despair circuit.

Activate the despair circuit and destroy the magical girl in front of me.

It certainly made sense.

You have power that no one can stand against, and yet you’re cornered like this?

“Akari…!!!”

“……..!!”

For a moment, I had the illusion that time was passing slowly.

I bit my lips as I felt the blade flying towards my neck slowly digging into my skin.

Can’t I help it?

This might be better than doing something stupid and dying.

Kyaang-!!!!!

“Stop, Ruby!!!”

“…Emerald!”

Just before Ruby’s blade cut off my neck, Emerald blocked my path.

If I had believed her, it would have been a lie, but I was glad that she appeared at such a dangerous moment.

It would have been better if she had appeared a little earlier, though.

“You’re late, you know…”

“Sorry, Akari.”

That was 1 vs. 2.

A magical girl can’t hurt another magical girl, but that was enough for now.

To Ruby, Emerald was like an impenetrable fortress.

“Now’s your chance, Emerald. This is the perfect opportunity to get rid of that Apocalypse guy!”

“There’s no Apocalypse. What’s here is Akari!”

The two magical girls began to clash fiercely.

A fight between a being who wants to eliminate the threat of the future and a being who wants to protect the girl of the present.

If you ask which side is right, I think the former is right, but if you ask which side I root for, it would naturally be the latter.

I wondered what a monster cheering for a magical girl would be like.

“Emerald…!!!!”

“Ruby….!!!”

As I watched the two magical girls start fighting while shouting each other’s names, the corners of my mouth twitched involuntarily.

To cause an internal strife and make them fight each other?

Couldn’t this be considered mastermind?

I thought I heard a sigh from somewhere, but I dismissed it as my mood and let it go.