episode_0044

When I fell from the rooftop, despite adjusting my weight, the impact from the fall would not have been light on the monster.

After all, it wasn’t just any rooftop of a building. Even a fist-sized iron bead could shatter a person’s skull with just the force of falling.

The height I leaped from wasn’t that high.

But it wasn’t entirely by my own strength that I jumped either.

The “propulsion device” was exactly that—a propulsion device.

James, the creator himself, was surprised, but the device’s “propulsion function” definitely worked.

Jumping with one’s own strength—or rather, soaring with a “boost”—to such a height where one briefly lingered in mid-air was nearly impossible for most.

I could see the gazes directed towards me. The police officers surrounding the scene, observing the battle, and the monster standing among them.

And the wisdom held in his hand.

I focused on the monster.

I want to kill it. I want to smash its head right now.

But I knew I couldn’t do that immediately. It would be troublesome if Wisdom became endangered. So, let’s first move Wisdom somewhere else and then think about it.

Breaking the arm is the best option. The pincers were quite large, and the arm seemed long enough to move the pincers. But I didn’t just focus on the arm.

What if I miss while trying to break the elbow? The monster wouldn’t just stand there and take it. Of course, it would move. It would likely try to utilize the wisdom in its hands as much as possible.

In that case, it’s better to break the root part and sever it.

Thinking about its potential movement… am I risking my neck?

The time it took for these thoughts to race through my mind was probably fleeting. My stay in mid-air was also brief.

Was my acceleration due to magic? Was it me speeding up, or did the surroundings appear slower?

Soaring into the sky, I tilted my body slightly forward and descended along the long handle near the hammerhead.

Then, I firmly pressed the palm of my left hand above.

I brought down the hammer.

As the propulsion device spun vigorously behind me, it probably looked like drawing a circular pattern in the sky.

When the flat, solid part of the hammerhead pointed downwards, I unleashed more energy. The blue flames behind the hammer surged more fiercely.

Leaving a long, straight, blue trail, the hammer was “fired.”

I plummeted downward at a rapid speed.

The sound of air sharply cutting beside my ear echoed. James on my shoulder seemed to be shouting something, but I couldn’t hear him properly. He sure sticks around.

Perhaps because I was too fast, the monster moving below seemed oddly slow.

As I had anticipated, the monster moved its arm. It pulled back the wisdom it had extended forward. Did it think I would stop because of that?

If I could have stopped midway, I wouldn’t have used this method.

I gritted my teeth. Then, I focused my mind. I guided the hammer’s trajectory along that arm. Was it due to desperation? This time, the magic moved as I intended.

And in that fleeting moment…

A sound of something solid colliding with something else rang out.

It almost seemed like both sounds occurred simultaneously.

The dull thud of something heavy falling heavily, and the sharp clack when something thin and solid collided with another hard object—a crisp sound.

Naturally, the harder side was the one that made the dull thud.

Crack.

The pauldron covering the shoulder shattered.

Through the broken pieces, blue fluid oozed, and the center of the pauldron caved in. Inside, a white flesh was visible where the pauldron had shattered haphazardly… it was the color of crustacean meat you’d see at a seafood restaurant.

“Uwaaaah!”

The monster screamed in agony.

It recoiled, staggering backward. Then, it looked down at its own arm.

The problem wasn’t the left pincer. Its shoulder, precisely speaking, from the part right next to its body and head was completely shattered. The cross-section revealed a white flesh inside… the color of crustacean meat you’d find at a seafood restaurant.

Watching it stagger away from me, I glanced back at Wisdom.

Wisdom lay on the ground.

It seemed like it couldn’t get up properly, as if its legs had lost strength.

No, it still seemed like it couldn’t breathe properly. A large pincer was clasped around its waist.

Holding the hammer in one hand, I moved towards it—

Thud!

I was struck by the swinging arm again.

Perhaps because it was holding the activated hammer, for a moment, I felt like I was floating aimlessly in mid-air.

Until this heart calms even a little, fighting is the only option. Swinging the hammer, it flew in that direction.

Moreover, the monster was approaching Wisdom once again.

As the grip finally loosened, Wisdom barely managed to escape and crawl out from there. Some of the police officers ran towards Wisdom. The monster was following after Wisdom. Its strides seemed heavy with anger.

Perhaps it wants revenge on me, even if it means killing Wisdom. After all, I cut off its arm.

Bullets flew towards the monster. There were several bullets bouncing off its thick exoskeleton, but there seemed to be bullets piercing through the monster’s wounds as well, causing it to stagger.

However, it didn’t fall.

Could it be that simple bullets, as heard on the radio earlier, cannot bring down the monster?

Rather, seeming enraged, the monster roared and raised its arm.

“…Ah!?”

I shouted involuntarily.

Something was boiling within the broken exoskeleton of the monster.

It felt like something was boiling.

Through the monster’s exoskeleton, a pale, slimy flesh of an unfamiliar color emerged once again. Its appearance resembled the claw I had destroyed moments ago.

Although it looked like it could crumble at any moment due to its soft texture.

Surely, it must be effective for it to react this way.

I immediately raised the hammerhead vertically.

I tried to strike down forcefully again, but—

Thud!

This time, the monster quickly dodged to the side. Was it anticipating it?

…No.

There’s no way it could dodge just by anticipating. If it could simply evade based on anticipation, it could have done so when I shattered the exoskeleton earlier.

I looked at the exoskeleton lying on the ground.

It was thick.

Certainly, it seemed capable of withstanding the weight of the hammer I had been swinging down from the rooftop. While I couldn’t determine its strength compared to actual ores, it was enough to deflect bullets fired from the police tactical team’s sniper rifles.

If it’s not a special alloy, it must be very heavy.

A white substance caught my eye. It was the flesh growing inside the exoskeleton.

Much more agile and faster than before, it flew towards me, almost like a whip.

I forced the hammer up awkwardly to block it. When the white flesh touched the flames erupting from the open part behind, the monster screamed, but I couldn’t dodge it.

Fortunately, the impact was less severe than when it hit the thick exoskeleton. It still caused a headache, though.

Wisdom’s scream echoed. She called my name. But the voice sounded distant.

I leaped sideways to prevent the monster from advancing towards Wisdom. More precisely, I held the hammer sideways.

Clang!

The monster stopped in its tracks, grinding the asphalt with its feet.

That’s right, it’s a showdown.

I revealed this while looking at the monster.

If you’re not completely incapacitated, Wisdom won’t be safe either.

I thought about lunging forward immediately to stop the monster, holding the hammer ready.

Where should I start breaking—?

But before I could finish that thought, metal and wire flew towards both me and the monster.

—

It was too late.

Upon arriving at the scene, the magical girls could tell that things were getting serious.

The reason the girls, who had been almost dormant for a while, gathered was simple.

The police couldn’t handle the monster that appeared, so they were told to deal with it.

Even though Hayoon’s magic had significantly weakened, she wasn’t entirely incapable of fighting. While her power was diminished compared to other magical girls, she could still defend herself against the monster.

Furthermore, the other girls could still use their powers. Hayoon’s power wouldn’t assist them, but they could at least hold off one monster.

However, it took too long to make such a judgment. The Galactic Federation seemed to have debated until the last minute whether to let them go, especially Hayoon.

They finally got permission and took off.

It wasn’t ideal to send just one person, but Hayoon could fly alone.

One monster. And one hostage.

The police concluded that they had no way to subdue the monster. The monster’s armor was a familiar sight. If they shot at it, there was a risk of hitting the hostage.

They couldn’t use the wire either. The hostage wouldn’t be able to withstand the wire.

Hayoon gritted her teeth and flew in that direction, doing her best.

As she got closer to the scene, more people gathered around her.

They exchanged nods and joined forces to form a unit.

After capturing the monster, they would finally be able to discuss their opinions properly.

With that thought, a glimmer of hope arose—

—until they saw the scene.

As soon as they arrived at the scene, what caught Hayoon’s eye

Just a moment ago, someone who appeared to be a minor questioned the logic of sprinkling a thick wire mesh over their head.

Perhaps witnessing the giant arm of a monster being disabled made them think they could handle it with a wrench? Are they lacking common sense?

Well, without eyes, it’s unlikely they could time it right to sprinkle the mesh over their head like this.

“Ta, let’s escape!”

Judging by the lackluster response to the shout, it didn’t seem very successful.

Think about it. With such a large claw, do you think it can be easily dealt with using a mesh? Just tear it apart with the claw.

Although, considering that Wisdom’s waist wasn’t completely torn apart, the claw might not be as sharp as one would think.

“Are you okay?”

I asked James.

Just before being caught in the wire, I bent my left arm and used my hand to block my left shoulder. While James’ fingers and palm were tightly pressed under my hand, at least he wasn’t crushed by the wire.

It might have been fine even if I didn’t have a hand. Perhaps the magic applied to my body prevented the situation from becoming too serious.

Still, there was a possibility of red bruises forming on my shoulder, but there was nothing I could do about it.

“I-I’m fine,” James said, looking a bit flustered.

“Good.”

I tried to straighten my bent back, but it was impossible to fully support the weight just by doing that. I could barely keep from falling over, but I ended up standing awkwardly with my back still bent.

Nevertheless, I still held a hammer in my other hand.

Moreover, the circuits were still running.

The situation was not good. I had come to improve the image a bit, but it didn’t seem like taking the lead was a good idea.

I have no regrets.

If I had waited for the magical girl to arrive, Wisdom would have been truly in danger. In fact, even at the moment I arrived, the situation was already quite dangerous.

Kiiing—

Thinking about the current situation, I felt the generator starting up again.

The parts floating in the air below the wire still maintained their shapes. Some parts of the wire were even slightly above the hammerhead.

Could it be a magnetic field?

No, this might also be a product of my mediocre scientific knowledge. Just like the last time I saved someone with physically impossible actions, this might be another scientifically implausible event that is happening because I think it seems “plausible.”

But it does seem plausible.

A mix of alien technology and other things. James would probably find it absurd again.

With determination, I swung the hammer.

Chiiing—

The output coming from behind the hammer melted the wire.

The wire, touched by the blue flames, quickly turned red and began to snap. Although I heard someone shouting, I decided to ignore it.

Whatever I do, it will only be a hindrance.

Was something heavy attached to the net made of wire?

As I spun around and cut the net, I could remove the net covering my body with one hand.

And as soon as I removed it, I locked eyes with Hayoon floating in the sky.

“……”

What should I say?

Still, I was grateful that we didn’t have to awkwardly greet each other. Having an opponent to fight against is a good thing. Without thinking too much about it, I just need to do what needs to be done.

… No, still, from the moment I saw Hayoon, my heart started pounding like crazy.

Locking eyes didn’t take long.

A white arm flew towards Hayoon. It seemed like they wanted to somehow catch and drop the magical girls floating in the air.

That’s going to be difficult.

Honestly, I don’t feel a strong desire to help the magical girls. They are the ones who almost killed me.

But still, I can’t just stand by and watch Hayoon.

I don’t want to talk. But at the same time, I want to see her, meet her.

I want to win. But I don’t want to fight.

These conflicting emotions ultimately lead to despair. Wanting but not wanting, at the end of these two emotions, what I choose is ultimately to flee.

If I think it will be the same today, there’s nothing I can do.

“……”

In that case, I’ll just redirect that anger elsewhere.

I ran.

One step, two steps, three steps.

With each leap, I soared higher. After doing this several times, I got the hang of it.

Not steps to escape, but steps to confront.

I leaped with all my might, then brought down the hammer with force.

Thud!

But what was hit was once again the ground.

It seemed like the opponent was evolving every time they escaped, making it easy to predict such obvious attacks.

But

What, I don’t care about that and just focus on the fight. I didn’t want to worry about it either.

No matter what they think over there, I see them as beings I’ll eventually have to face off against.

… By the way, does it seem like my power has weakened more than when I fought with Output?

Ha Yoon was the same. She could create a sword, but the light was somewhat unstable.

Changing from a thick two-handed sword suitable for a hero in Eastern longsword style to just a thin beam of light, Ha Yoon’s sword now barely manifested.

Clang!

However, this doesn’t mean the sense of battle has diminished.

Even if the output and magical destructive power have decreased, experience remains. Magical girls have already fought monsters multiple times.

There might be monsters specialized in speed, so they should have some idea of how to deal with them.

Instead of dodging, I pivoted to the side based on my output.

A weapon that crushes things by colliding with them is well-suited against solid objects. Of course, if that white flesh can be struck down, I could just crush it, but even with output as a base, I’m still slower.

Is it because of air resistance? But magical girls didn’t worry about such things when flying through the sky. So, there must be a magical solution.

Does that mean it’s all just wishful thinking?

As I pondered, the monster turned towards me.

The most threatening thing seemed to be my hammer shape. Well, it shattered their armor that even bullets couldn’t penetrate.

They probably know that getting hit properly would mean instant death.

But that doesn’t mean the other magical girls will let the monster go.

I’m the second one not attacking themselves; the other side is the first.

It’s frustrating that the initiative lies with them, but for now, let’s not worry about it.

Ha Yoon rushed in. The monster, slightly taken aback by her swift sword strikes, countered with its intact right pincer.

It’s only natural. Isn’t it a beam of light? If that white flesh touches it, it will tear apart.

And Iris provided support by shooting at the monster.

“Haap!”

Rose charged in and struck the monster.

Thud!

The dent in the monster’s armor grew larger.

“Ugh!”

The monster seemed annoyed and yelled before Rose and Ha Yoon took turns hitting the ground. Despite having armor on its right hand, the two were fast enough to evade.

As the two fell back, a cluster of Dahlia’s magic flew towards the monster.

The monster grabbed the magical cluster with its pincer and tore it apart. However, a smell of decay emanated from the exposed white arm due to not being entirely protected.

The monster grabbed its arm with the pincer and then cut it off.

Delphinium was preparing a spell from afar. Some police officers were seen retreating. One of the officers was being dragged away by Wisdom. It seemed more like he had lost his mind and couldn’t help it, so I held back for now.

I slightly bent my legs, exerted force, and then pushed forward with all my might. Thanks to the hammer’s output, I spun widely to the left.

But that was enough.

Thud!

The hammer plunged into the monster’s exposed side, as it hadn’t been able to survey its surroundings due to regenerating its own arm.

From the monster’s mouth, something green… disgusting yet somewhat resembling entrails, spurted out. Honestly, not something I’d want to eat.

“….!”

Of all moments, the monster’s pincer was aimed at Ha Yoon.

I pushed the monster away by jabbing its side and then ran forward again, but for a moment, our eyes met.

Ha Yoon looked a bit startled as she watched the monster fly away blankly.

And suddenly, the pink blade of Ha Yoon’s staff began to ignite.

… Why?