The Bitterest Truth
My body right now was not my own.
More accurately, no matter how hard I thought or moved, it felt as though I was not directing it in the slightest.
Even lifting the coffee cup and sipping the drink felt as if it never quite reached my throat.
It was the distorted sense of inhaling empty air.
The cause was painfully clear.
—Squelch.
From far away, Lee Harin peeked only at me, revealing a killing intent aimed solely at me for unknown reasons.
I didn’t know whether the coffee had gone down my nose or my mouth.
I didn’t know why she was doing it, but unfortunately the conversation with the class president showed no sign of ending.
“Um… anyway, I’ll end the story here. But even later, if you need any help, please tell me, okay?”
“T-thank you, President…”
The hand holding the coffee cup trembled again.
The cold sweat flowing down my back was made colder by the air conditioning in the café.
Then.
“Yo! Seoyeon! Siwoo!”
Kim Min-ah had somehow approached right in front of the two of them, waving happily.
She wore the bright smile that was the complete opposite of what was in my heart.
“What are you doing here?”
“Eh? We were just talking for a moment. Right?”
“Yeah? But what on earth were you talking about that you cast a Silence Magic on?”
The two magical girls continued their burning conversation, not even aware of their own scorched souls, sharing secrets.
And far away, the former magical girl and former Demon King Army Executive who kept spitting killing intent at me.
It suffocated me.
The coffee already in my stomach had all been vomited out, and I was only barely sipping ice water from the empty cup.
But even after drinking, the thirst did not disappear.
Instead, it only worsened, just like now with Harin’s eyes flashing more brightly.
The silence was broken by Kim Min-ah’s impulsive action while she had been talking with the president.
“Siwoo! You’ve gone crazy!!!”
After hearing all the story from the president, she grabbed both of my shoulders and shook me back and forth like I was dizzy.
“Such indecent behavior is not just, you know!!!”
The viewpoint kept flipping, and I couldn’t see clearly what was in front of me anymore.
“I-it’s dizzy… please stop…”
Because of the magical girl’s strength, I couldn’t resist at all.
My voice trembled like I was speaking in front of a fan, and feeling like the coffee in my stomach would come back up, I hurriedly grabbed Kim Min-ah’s wrist.
The bitter taste of coffee gushed back into my mouth.
At that moment.
—KWA-AANG!
With a huge sound like something exploded, the glass window right next to us cracked with a sharp sound.
“W-what!?”
“W-what!?”
The president and Kim Min-ah were startled and quickly looked around to find the source of the explosion they had vaguely heard.
But in my eyes, which had been fixed on one spot from the opposite side of the café, the unbelievable sight appeared.
“T-this… bastard…!”
The short thing with less than half the height was grabbed by the tentacle that shot out from its sleeve, and Harin was floating in the air, clutching her own throat in pain.
And.
“Kyahaha! So you were the runaway!? Huh?!”
She looked similar to Voracious, who had eaten the consciousness of people and Kim Min-ah right in front of me before, but she wore a slightly more refined purple dress, holding a book in her hand and unfolding it while the long sleeves hung down heavily due to gravity.
“Grimoire…!”
“Hah.”
Just before I pointed at the place and called out the names of the president and Kim Min-ah, the black leather-marked book held by the girl called Grimoire floated into the air.
And.
“Open the Grimoire.”
*****
Just appearing like this shook the heavens and earth, and the building crumbled.
Without even a moment for sirens to sound, a massive tidal wave of mana rushed in and covered the city.
“Siwoo…! Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine…”
Just barely before being buried under the debris, the president, who had created the magic staff, spat out words between her clenched teeth.
—Plop, plop.
On the translucent barrier, small concrete fragments fell, creating ripples.
With the president and Kim Min-ah huddled together inside the barrier as it looked like it would shatter at any moment, they swallowed hard.
“Min-ah, please!”
“Got it! Purifier Blue!”
Without any proper preparation, Kim Min-ah just placed her clenched right fist over her heart.
Blue mana swirled inside the pink barrier and gathered at Kim Min-ah’s heart, spreading throughout her body.
“Transformation!”
With a flash of light, the magical girl in a blue dress appeared in front of me.
For some reason, a terribly bitter taste filled my mouth, as if eating rusty iron.
“Just hold on a little longer! Siwoo!”
Kim Min-ah reached her hand outside the pink translucent barrier and caught a huge piece of debris with both hands.
“One, two, three!”
The moment the president’s countdown ended, Kim Min-ah braced her arms as the barrier slowly faded.
—Kugugu…
As soon as the barrier was released, the piled heavy debris began to vibrate and press down on us as if trying to crush us.
Barely using the large piece of debris she was holding as a shield, we barely stayed within the danger zone in the collapsed space.
“Innocent Heart, transformation!”
Another flash of pink light appeared, and another magical girl in a fluttering dress materialized.
“Heart, hurry…!”
“Got it!”
The president stopped the pink magic staff at the center of the collapsed space and, after closing her eyes, carefully gathered mana.
A warm feeling emanated from the crystal in the magic staff.
“Anti Gravity!”
Suddenly, my body floated, and at the same time, the surrounding debris began to slowly rise into the air.
“Yura-cha!”
At the same time, Kim Min-ah pushed the debris she was holding high into the sky.
The pushed debris collided and moved other debris, which then hit other pieces.
Between the debris and fragments, faint sunlight seeped through and tickled the corners of my eyes.
“Siwoo! It’ll be hard, but I can get out by stepping on the debris!?”
“Y-yes! I’ll try!”
I reached out and pushed the still-covered debris to the side.
Like concrete piles on an icy road, the debris slid without resistance and slammed into somewhere with a thud.
Stepping on the debris, I barely escaped while balancing myself against sudden clattering fragments that kept coming.
“What on earth is going on?”
The president kept floating the surrounding debris into the air and did her best to rescue the other survivors.
Kim Min-ah also cleared away and scattered the fragments beside her, pulling out people.
“Was it an attack by the Demon King Army? But I didn’t feel the portal opening…”
Muttering like that, the president had just lifted the last remaining debris and rescued the person buried inside it.
“Kyahaha!”
A loud laugh breaking the silence made the magical girls turn toward the source of the laughter.
“Gah, cough…!”
“Did you really say you’d run away? Huh!? Kyahaha! How pathetic!”
On her head grew black horns that looked like a bundle of branches, resembling antlers or deer antlers combined.
The high-heeled shoes she wore on her feet, unsuitable for her small body, strongly pressed down on Harin’s transformed abdomen.
“Kuuuh…!”
From the torn suit here and there, red blood flowed out, and the tentacles, which had always been fast, lay scattered and torn to pieces on the ground.
It was the first time.
The first time I saw Harin, who always looked like she couldn’t lose, lying so helplessly.
“Ha…!”
I almost shouted her name, but hurriedly covered my mouth.
If I shouted “Harin” here and now, it would reveal that I knew her true identity.
So, for now.
“Let’s go, Blue!”
“Understood!”
—Kiiiing!
Kim Min-ah gathered mana in her right hand, summoned a long spear, and immediately charged toward the Demon King Army that was trampling on Harin.
“Purifier Kick!!!”
—Kwaaang!
Kim Min-ah’s spinning kick landed a direct hit on the Demon King Army.
Immediately, with thick dust surrounding, the debris still floating in zero gravity was blown away by the shockwave.
But.
“What, you bitch?”
“Such…!”
—Kwaang!
With one gesture from the Executive, Kim Min-ah was sent flying far away and slammed hard into the wall of the building.
“Blue!”
The president chased Kim Min-ah’s figure in an instant, then quickly turned her gaze back to the Executive.
“…So it was true that there was a betrayal within the organization!”
She pointed the magic staff at the Executive and showed a hardened expression as if not wanting to miss even a moment.
“Leave the Executive immediately!”
“Kyaaah! What? Now even with magical girls you’re eating? Kyaah! Amazing! Huh?!”
—Kuuuuk…!
“Kuuuh…!”
The Executive pushed her high heels harder, and Harin let out a painful groan.
Even though she wanted to show pain to the Executive, she clenched her teeth to hold it in, but she couldn’t stop the blood flowing from between her lips.
Red blood flowed from her lips and wet her cheeks.
“Kyahaha! Well, of course. Where would your origin go? That dirty origin of yours. Blood can’t hide it. Right?”
“…!”
With the truth blurted out without any room to hide, Harin furrowed her brows.
At the same time.
“…What… voices…?”
The president also asked in a trembling voice, as if she had just learned the darkest truth.
Once again, in my mouth.
A very strong bitter taste was felt.
[What… voices…?]