Crushing the Fake Heavenly Demon
You can do it! You got this!『BOOM!!』 I kicked open the door to the director's office, loaded with maximum dissatisfaction. The sturdy metal door crumpled pathetically and fell away.
"Well, well. What an aggressive customer visit."
The director's office looked completely detached from the vibe of the rest I'd seen so far.
"We do get customers like you dropping by the company now and then, but it's been quite a while since we had one this rough."
The room reeked heavily of scorched coffee, and it was decked out overall with high-end furniture. Scattered incongruously around were bizarre decorative jars and such, lacking any consistency—like some parvenu's taste—and even kids' toys mixed in.
The director set down his gold-trimmed cup filled with black liquid and rose from his yellowed leather chair.
"Ahem. Hello. I'm the director of this little facility. What should I call myself... ah, yes, let's go with Kim Cheonma?"
He tilted his head quizzically.
The director looked perfectly normal. No muscles, no black hair. No scars. Overall, he was a slightly swarthy Arab-looking handsome guy, with just a goatee on his chin and deep crimson hair slicked back. Way too bland to claim the title of Heavenly Demon. Total letdown.
The director stroked his beard smoothly as he eyed me. Yeah, no color to him at all. And there were twisted horns sprouting from his head. Not Kim Cheonma—more like Kim Goat. Kihihi. Or maybe a demon? Demons count as weird phenomena, I guess.
"Hm. I thought we'd provided every possible convenience, so what dissatisfaction brings you here?"
Why's he keep talking to me? Hurry up and attack already. Is this seriously a dialogue gimmick? Where's the skip button?
As the silence dragged on, the director rummaged in his chest pocket and pulled out a black cigar. He sliced it effortlessly with his fingers, popped it in his mouth, and it lit itself right up. Not human. Not human. This isn't dialogue.
"...No satisfaction."
"Pardon? Huh?"
He squinted at my quiet mutter, his eyes widening in that annoyingly mocking way.
"Shit game. Lacks impact."
The director smirked slyly and replied.
"Customer, whoosh. Could you speak up a bit?"
The long puff of smoke dispersed into the silence.
Grr! The nerve! Go! Hammer-chan!! 『CLANG!!』
The director threw up a barrier with a quick gesture. The scattered shock from my magic wand clashing against it rippled through the room, shattering the parvenu decor to pieces. First time I'd seen anyone block the wand. Impressive? Here's your 'good job' stamp.
Of course, no boss fight without a boss. Kihihi. Nice! My magic wand, having failed to pulverize the enemy, obediently floated back behind me.
"Well, well. You like a good power struggle, huh."
The director shook his sizzling, distorted hand, restoring it to normal.
"But is that okay with you? This is my world."
He grabbed his long drooping beard, rubbed it, inhaled deeply on the cigar, and exhaled a long trail of smoke.
"The moment you entered here, you were bound by contract with me... Hm?"
A tsk of tongue-clicking. Something go wrong?
"Fine, fine. Did beating a few company grunts make you overconfident?"
The director regained his composure and snapped his fingers. In that instant, the office expanded endlessly. The distance between us grew, and the floor began to sizzle and burn. Roiling hellfire swallowed the space, scorching the haze. Sticky pillars of flame erupted everywhere, belching thick black smoke.
The director spread his arms theatrically like an actor, grinning with supreme confidence. From his small frame rose an endless torrent of massive energy, overtaking the space. The ground beneath him trembled precariously.
"Wouldn't it have been so much nicer if you'd just gone back quietly when I suggested it? Heh heh heh."
His words boomed like thunder, shaking the earth. I braced my core and cleared my throat.
"Ahem. Ahem. So, is this it?"
Oh, nice. My voice came out great—noble and echoing perfectly through the vast space. Clear and loud, right?
I tilted my head.
"Pardon?"
The director's twisted expression was quite the sight.
"I mean, is this the end...?"
Since he wasn't human, my voice came out easy. See? Once you start talking, it gets easier. Amazing! Amazing!
"What makes you so cocky? With that puny power of yours."
『POP! WHOOSH.』 A pillar of hellfire erupted from where I stood. The floor melted stickily away, but not a single tassel on my magical girl outfit fluttered.
Hm. When's it gonna merge already?
Clap clap clap. I clasped my hands in front of my chest, praying for the merge with applause.
"What in the—?!"
The lights dimmed, and I floated in the air, tilting my head down at the director. He finally broke out in cold sweat, putting on another fire show. Ooh, cool! He pulled out every fiery trick in the book. I grinned and kept clapping at his flashy efforts. Kihihi. So, the merge?
"Is this it?"
"Die!!"
The director ditched the politeness, roaring coarsely as he unleashed an even bigger, more colorful blaze. It was pretty fun to watch. But seriously, no merge? Is the building just set dressing? Starting to get bored. Maybe lodge a complaint?
For the first time since becoming a magical girl, I unleashed my magic power.
In an instant, the world filled with my color. Even the trickle of leaked magic made the director's puny world crack and splinter at the seams. Startled, I quickly reined it in. The mere outline of my true magic—before it even extended fully—hadn't just wrecked the vast office; the whole factory would've turned to dust and melted sludge in seconds. Ah, can't do this on Earth.
I glanced at the director; he was curled up on the floor, writhing. He couldn't even scream as he melted. Wasn't planning on this. Pushing aside my regret at only unleashing a sliver, I reminisced about his fiery efforts. Too bad?
I pulled back the tail end of the leaked magic. Felt refreshing, but all I could manage was this much? Snow-white flakes filled the air as I walked through his tiny crumbling world toward him. Now for the boss fight, feeler dude. I grinned down at him.
"Gaaahhh!!"
Ah. Mob-like death cry. No way? I thought I just singed him a bit, but the director was barely holding himself up on his elbows, face-down. Black soot poured from his mouth and nose in gushes. Cracks spiderwebbed his body, leaking dark scorch marks everywhere.
You can do it! You got this! Phase 2 now, right? His horns crumbled away as he looked up at me in panic.
"What... are you?"
"Not fighting?"
What? Why's the dialogue scene starting? Ah! He figured out my weakness! Quick, merge already! Even though there's nothing left to merge with.
"Cough. Cough. F-fight... you say?"
"Yeah, merge, transform. Phase two."
"Ha, haha. After all these long years... such futility..."
The director's head drooped. No response. He'd turned into a corpse.
Shit game after all. Oh? He turned pitch-black like hardened plaster and began to crumble. Only then did I see his color scatter. Even in death, it was an impossibly deep black. Color only shows after death? That's cheating. Well, killing first and seeing works, so no big deal?
Anyway, today's magical girl did a good deed. Or something like that. Man, never got to try incantation magic to the end. Magic release then incantation spell—that's basic, right? One or the other, and this is the result.
I forcibly halted the collapsing space syncing with the director. Just one basic spell. A light shot! It's a ruined world—perfect magic test range!
▼ Uh, yeah. Better not use incantation magic. The Refracted Light warhead was already corroding and melting his pathetic world with a single shot. I hurriedly restored the space's boundary as emptiness leaked out. Some might've escaped? Wait, this is a basic attack spell? If I'd fired it while incinerating those books last time, catastrophe. Intense. Seeing the true form of my mental image for basic attack magic—artillery? Makes me question my bombardment-type magical girl identity. Should've guessed when that event chant wasn't even an attack spell but had that output. This is even more extreme. Hm. Where am I supposed to use this? There go my dreams of a barrage-type magical girl escorting on a battleship, blasting away. Guess I'm just supposed to bonk with the wand? Sealing artillery feels uncool. Imagine if I could rapid-fire like a machine gun—who the hell is that for? Eh, whatever. Being a munchkin rocks. All beam-type spells are sealed. Can't have them stretching endlessly and wrecking peaceful planets. I let go, naturally exiting his crumbling tiny world as it flaked away. Had fun—sorry for trashing the place? Owner's already dust, so apology's pointless? Kihihi. See ya.
Home sweet home. Trash disposed. Mission accomplished.
The front gate didn't recognize my print, so I released the transformation and sprinkled purification. Ah, nice smell. With a soft click, the gate opened. Was pretty fun, all told.