Chapter 19
In a nutshell, the Magical Girl described with the [Machine Gun] in the original story was a ‘fanatic’.
Sumire Fujimoto, who led the Magical Girls in place of Eiji Fujimoto, already deceased in the story.
The [Machine Gun] was portrayed as a character deeply enamored with her.
She was the Magical Girl who bloomed into the path of struggle through the Glass Star of the uncultivated 1-Star Magical Girls collected by the alliance. Thus, loyal to Sumire, she aimed to massacre the FLAG-affiliated Magical Girls until the very moment she met her demise.
Like someone fleeing from something.
Like a clown putting on a show.
“Leader! Glory to you!”
“Thank you! Leader! Please watch over us!”
“The power you’ve given me! I will use it for you!”
“Machine Gun is… Love!!”
Only displaying superficial loyalty, she merely imitated a madwoman.
She died screaming for Sumire to notice her until her last breath.
***
Wooosh—
“Yay!!”
“Hana-chan! Let’s go together!!”
[Swiftness] Magical Girl Unique Skill
Flash Girl 閃光少女
Hana Sato was running over the rooftops, enveloped in dazzling light.
A tail of light stretched over dozens of meters behind her.
It looked just like a yellow shooting star passing by.
With the overwhelming output of a Born 3-Star Magical Girl, I was casting Blink every second to catch up, but all I saw was her back.
Every time I took the subway, I imagined someone chasing after buildings outside the window—this was exactly that.
A sudden silly thought.
That’s how impressive Hana’s performance was.
Sometimes, despite gaps of over ten meters between buildings, she would leave a trail of light and break through the air. I was more bewildered by her movement ability exceeding that of Blink.
‘No matter how much she bloomed, how on earth does a Born 1-Star have this level of output?’
Considering that uncultivated Born 1-Star Magical Girls tire out after a few basic spells, this was nothing short of marvelous.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Like jumping across stepping stones between rooftops.
With a sharp sound cutting through the air, a high-rise building appeared before the speeding yellow shooting star.
“Hana, let’s turn around!!”
“Ahaha! I’m fine!!”
Hana, grinning at me, increased her speed and continued to rush.
As her speed accelerated,
The sound of air slicing past her shoulders grew threateningly louder.
Wooosh—
Now, even if I tried to veer off to avoid it, the high-rise was too close.
I desperately tried to psychic-protect Hana. But I was instantly halted by the astonishing sight that unfolded.
Fwoosh!
Doodoodoodoo—
Hana lightly kicked off from a building across the high-rise.
Her speed remained unchanged despite the sudden change of direction.
She stuck to the skyscraper and smoothly broke through its vertical wall as she climbed higher.
A girl charging toward the sky.
‘If I chase after her recklessly, it’ll end badly.’
If I forcefully followed, it was obvious the surrounding buildings would be demolished by my psychic as I crashed about, so I obediently turned back to my original path.
‘What on earth is this…’
An unfathomable performance for a Born 1-Star.
I could only watch in shock.
‘Sato Hana is special.’
Such powerful portrayals of Born 1-Stars hadn’t appeared in the original story.
There were descriptions of Magical Girls overwhelming others of the same grade based on the magic power they absorbed through blooming or fighting, but displaying overwhelming output from the start like this was only seen with those among 2-Stars like Sumire Fujimoto or Ichika.
“Hey! Leader! Sato! How could you leave me behind?!”
Ichika, slightly trailing, finally caught up and shouted resentfully.
Ichika’s output was weaker than mine, bulldozing through with raw output,
And aside from battles, she was inexperienced with Blink, trailing for more than a few minutes.
“Seriously!”
Pow!
“So annoying!”
Pow!
“Such a situation!”
Ichika, flickering in and out with Blink, spewed her complaints.
“I agree, Ichika.”
“Hikari-chan! I see smoke up ahead!”
“Looks like we’re almost there.”
“Such a flashy scene!”
Having gone far ahead, Hana began to slow down, gradually approaching us.
A straight line from Yokohama to Kabukicho in Shinjuku.
We had traveled dozens of kilometers and finally arrived at a point where we could see Kabukicho.
“Good thing we didn’t take the train.”
“Hey, it’s not as chaotic as I thought. We’re not late.”
“Oof, bad people doing bad things!”
Ichika clicked her tongue at the sight, while Hana made a megaphone shape with her hands, going beep beep.
We stood aligned on the rooftops,
Spotting traces of destruction and smoke rising from afar.
In our eyes, fluorescent vermilion dots wandered about the Kabukicho streets, and in the distance, armored figures were marching with great dignity along the grand plaza.
‘Well, since it’s right in the city center, the police are already showing up.’
It seemed the police who had been deployed earlier attempted to stop it but failed.
Barricades were haphazardly scattered in the middle of Kabukicho, where armed forces were unable to easily approach due to the chaotic crowd and situation.
“What should we do, Leader?”
“We must block it.”
“Alright.”
In sight were armored robots and motorcycles.
It bothered me that the figure of the Machine Gun was nowhere to be seen.
First, it was urgent to stop the ruckus caused by those two Magical Girls and save the civilians caught in it.
Fwup!
Colorless Starlight.
Green Starlight.
Two starlights sparkled where we were.
As the starlight passed, both Ichika and I transformed into blooming magical girl forms. And I withdrew the Illusion Magic curtain I had placed around our party since earlier.
Our figures revealed once more.
To those claiming to be part of the organization formed by the [Start] Magical Girl, it would be more eye-catching to reveal ourselves.
‘To prevent any further damage, I must bring this area under my control.’
Holding my unique weapon staff, I jumped off the building towards the direction of Kabukicho.
What I first practiced to survive against the Magical Girls of [War].
A large-scale Illusion Barrier Magic.
[Deception] Magical Girl Unique Skill
Dream World 夢幻世界
Broadband Style 廣域式
Clang!
A massive ten-meter square prism gleamed in resplendent colors above my head.
The square prism quickly ascended into the sky, reaching the center of the Kabukicho airspace.
In the center of the square, a cross-shaped crack formed.
Eight pieces split into four sections each, scattering top and bottom.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The eight prisms quickly settled into various spots across Kabukicho,
They emitted rainbow-colored lights towards each other, connecting together.
Like a star-studded galaxy shimmering in resplendent hues.
The vast area of starlight expanded from points to lines,
And from lines to planes.
“What is going on?!”
“What’s happening? What are you trying to do?”
“Things are really going wild today!”
With the formation of the barrier, I sensed consciousness expanding and heard surprised voices from the people seeing the engraved barrier around them.
This place was now my domain.
It brushed against my imagination.
What I envisioned in my heart was an illusion.
A warning to leave this place.
– I am the Magical Girl of [Start].
– Please escape as directed by this message.
– Those causing mayhem are impersonating me.
– I have no intention of harming anyone else.
– Please flee this area.
I repeatedly presented my voice through warnings and phrases resounding in the minds of the citizens.
“What is this…?”
“What should we do?”
“Is this really correct?”
Doubt.
Hesitation.
Since the troublemakers claimed to be part of the group formed by the [Start] Magical Girl, people couldn’t believe the message.
The main troublemakers claimed to be subordinates of [Start], and now, the leader of [Start] was telling them to run away, which made it absurd.
‘At this rate, it’ll be too late.’
Wham!
I decided to deploy a new illusion.
A familiar police face I had seen before.
“Police! Please listen to the words of the Magical Girl of [Start]!”
“They haven’t gone wild just yet! Please evacuate in an orderly fashion!”
“If everyone suddenly bolts, it’ll be dangerous! Please remain orderly!”
“Your safety is guaranteed by the police!”
“We will assist the safe evacuation of the citizens!”
“Please evacuate with the elderly and children!”
“Follow the earthquake evacuation drills!”
The appearance and voice of Yamashita, a police officer who had been tailing me from the Metropolitan Police Department.
I recalled him and activated the illusion, and in an instant, spirited officers clad in various police uniforms began to appear across Kabukicho to evacuate civilians.
“If it’s the police’s words, we should believe it!”
“I think it’s an earthquake evacuation drill.”
“Sis, all the kids from our shop evacuated safely!”
“Hey, cop, thanks. Come visit our shop sometime.”
Tap tap!
Yakuza from various areas were handing business cards to fake Yamashita or thanking him as they left.
The fake Yamashitas responded with shining eyes filled with righteousness to the citizens’ gratitude.
“It is the duty of the police to protect the citizens!”
In this unrealistic situation of Magical Girls causing chaos.
The citizens who had frozen in place began to consider the situation like an earthquake evacuation drill upon hearing the familiar voice of authority.
Familiarity.
Relief.
Citizens began to hasten their steps to escape Kabukicho towards the main road; their bodies moved instinctively as the imagery of the familiar situation overlapped.
‘Good.’
While controlling the passionate police Yamashitas within my domain, I simultaneously deployed a new barrier magic for the sluggish armored side.
Whoosh!
A 200-meter diameter illusion barrier.
The black hemispherical barrier completely enveloped the ivory-colored armor, blocking all light from the surroundings.
[Nyuuhuhuh, Whoah!? What is this?! Awesome Armored No. 1!! Initiating night vision mode!]
If they regained vision through night vision, it would defeat the purpose of confinement.
“Damn it! Ichika! Deal with that robot! Don’t let it escape the barrier!”
“Got it! Leader!”
Bang!
Ichika jumped right down beneath the building and shot towards the armor trapped within the illusion, leaving a green afterimage as she descended.
Boom—
‘The roaring sound of motorcycles was drawing closer.’
A light approaching from afar.
After witnessing the armored figure being bound by the illusion, the fluorescent vermilion motorcycle that had surged off into the distance was now speeding back at full throttle. Even Ichika would need backup while subduing the robot.
“Hana-chan!”
“Yeah! Hikari-chan!”
“Hana, can you lead the motorcycle to reduce its speed? I plan to bind it like the robot.”
“Hmm, what can I do to stop it?”
“Try pressing down hard on the back wheel of the motorcycle with a yellow energy, like a clamp to stop it.”
“Ah! Like this?”
Smash!
Hana cheerfully crumpled the nearby metal plates with her yellow psychic energy with a bright smile.
“……”
I was momentarily at a loss for words at her continuously impressive performance.
“Yeah, that’s a bit too much strength, you can tone it down a little.”
“Got it! Magical Girl Sato Hana, deployment!”
“Be careful. I’ll be watching and helping you throughout.”
“Yeah! Don’t worry! Hikari-chan!”
With laughter, a yellow shooting star shot forward.
Wooosh—
Hana rushed towards the motorcycle like a shooting star.
It was a pose reminiscent of a jousting match with lances.
The two starlights approached each other in a straight line.
‘Still, I feel uneasy sending Hana alone…’
I detached a portion of my consciousness and directed two clones to follow Hana.
Then, while keeping an eye on the situation of the evacuating civilians, I used my remaining clones to monitor and minimize variables in this situation.