Nightmare's Power
The next evening.
Following Harin's request, I brought Vice President back to the house, and the three of us walked home together.
Walking home together as three for the first time was certainly novel, yet it did not feel especially joyful, thanks to the subtle undercurrent flowing between us.
After all, the reason Vice President had accompanied us on our walk home was to discuss the Demon King's Army cadre we had met yesterday.
"I never imagined I'd be receiving help... but you didn't say anything."
"I didn't do it because I wanted to. That idiot Siwoo keeps getting dragged in. It's unavoidable."
"Ahaha... Siwoo got dragged in pretty deeply this time."
The not-quite-complaints alternating between the two beside me made me let out a heavy sigh.
"Why do these things always happen to me..."
"Si, Siwoo. Are you okay?"
While absorbing Vice President's not-so-comforting words, I shifted my steps a little further, and the entrance to the apartment complex came into view ahead.
We entered the lobby, took the elevator to the third floor, walked down the hallway, and opened the front door.
*Creak, thud.*
"...So, Harin."
The moment the front door closed, Vice President hung her school bag on the back of the chair and opened her mouth.
"You mentioned something about that cadre... what exactly...?"
"The one from the café last time, the one with horns on her head and that weird laugh. Remember her?"
"Ah, yeah. I remember. Was she... the cadre who made Mina's clone?"
Harin shook her head side to side in response to Vice President's question.
Her face hardened even more as a result.
I had roughly realized they were different cadres yesterday as well, but hearing it again made the gravity of the situation sink in.
...No. It's not yet the worst-case scenario?
At that point, the Demon King would have to appear right in front of us.
Moreover, when I first saw Harin, she had tried to impale and kill me with tentacles.
"That girl is Grimoire. Her ability... is to create minions from her own books or use magic according to the stories written on them."
"Then the... cadre who created Dark Blue, Mina's clone... Dark Blue is definitely made by Nightmare..."
"Yeah. Nightmare."
A name that, despite the malice behind it, was fitting for a Demon King's Army cadre.
Do all Demon King's Army cadres have names matching their traits?
If so, what about Harin...
"I don't know about Grimoire, but if it had to be one, it had to be that pink-haired one. Even the hope-spewing pink-haired girl getting caught would be infuriating, but this is double trouble."
Harin's red eyes flashed with a mix of irritation and fury in a chilling way.
Vice President beside me flinched at Harin's gaze directed at us and displayed a tense expression.
"H, Harin. You said you'd help."
"I did. But remember, pink-haired one. The reason I'm telling you this is not to help magical girls. Nor do I want to become one again. I'm just..."
Harin started to continue, then furrowed her brows and glanced at me fleetingly.
"...Only because that kid shouldn't get hurt. Understood?"
"Got it. I'll keep it in mind."
"Good. As long as you understand. Anyway, about Nightmare..."
Harin said this, pulled out a notebook she must have prepared earlier, flipped through the pages, and began writing something with a black pen.
No, more accurately, her pen moved not only horizontally but also diagonally and vertically, making it seem like she was sketching.
After a while, Harin showed us the white page she had drawn on.
What was drawn on the page...
"That is Nightmare."
"...Huh?"
An object that looked like some kind of gadget, along with a roughly sketched figure floating in the center, resembling a sloberman.
She had been drawing that serious expression over and over...?
"Don't laugh."
I couldn't help my mouth corners lifting, so I raised my hand to cover my mouth.
"Why, why did you say that to make me laugh... hmph...!"
*Whoosh...*
Harin's expressionless gaze at me was more amusing than her flashing red eyes, so the laughter burst out.
After a short while.
"...Anyway. Let's get back to it. Pink-haired one."
Harin let me laugh for a moment, then approached Vice President and placed the notebook she had drawn on the desk.
"Nightmare's ability is simpler than I thought. Even simpler than mine or Grimoire's."
"If it's that simple, there must be a countermeasure..."
"That's not the case."
Vice President's eyes full of hope shattered in an instant.
"She tramples on people's dreams and makes them have nightmares every night. She absorbs the despair and nightmares of the gathered people and turns them into her own power."
"Such a cruel...!"
"It's not over yet. She uses those collected nightmares to create magic and weapons. Probably the clone too..."
"Using nightmares to create it...?"
Harin nodded flatly.
"Then, how are the magical girls supposed to respond..."
"It's not over yet, pink-haired one. There's a separate reason why Nightmare is so annoying."
"Another reason?"
Vice President's pupils trembled for a moment.
A cruel ability to collect nightmares, yet one for which no clear countermeasure comes to mind.
Yet the most annoying reason is separate.
Is this when the saying 'mountain after mountain' is used?
"Listen well. The most annoying point of Nightmare's ability is..."
*****
*Heh, haa... hugh!?*
Late at night.
Kim Min-ah, who had strongly raised her upper body in her bedroom, was breathing roughly without pause.
It was already the middle of the night, and after finishing her workout and showering refreshingly, she should have been in bed.
Why had she ended up having such a nightmare.
"Haa, haa...!"
*Thud, thud.*
The sound of her heartbeat thrummed in her ears, and the t-shirt she had been wearing was soaked with sweat, thoroughly wetting the blanket and pillow.
Just moments ago, her whole body had felt as hot as if it was burning, but now, upon regaining her senses, it felt as if she was trapped in a blizzard.
She had no choice but to get out of bed, carefully open the door, and head to the kitchen through the living room.
*Glug glug glug.*
Placing a cup under the water purifier, water poured automatically.
After waiting for the water to fill, the moment the stream from the purifier stopped, she snatched the cup and gulped it down.
"Swish, haaa..."
It was probably because she had gulped too quickly.
Kim Min-ah felt a momentary sense that the water was about to go the wrong way and bent her body.
Thanks to that, she didn't cough, but her stomach was upset.
After barely calming down, she returned to the room, grabbed her phone, and checked the time.
"3 a.m....?"
The outside was inexplicably dark.
Moreover, due to the severe nightmare, even if she lay back down now, she wouldn't fall asleep easily.
The sweat-soaked bed also required time to dry.
"I should go for a walk..."
Kim Min-ah muttered this, roughly took off her clothes, changed into simple athletic wear, and carefully opened the front door.
Soon after, a refreshing dawn breeze, free of fine dust, brushed against Kim Min-ah's nose.
Such a pleasant breeze was blowing at night, yet how could she have endured such a nightmare.
Wiping the rising thought from her mind, Kim Min-ah took her steps.
At that moment.
"Original, detected."
Kim Min-ah instinctively turned around at the sound of Dark Blue's voice behind her and assumed her transformation stance.
And.
"Purifier Blue, transformation!"
She recited the words that were like a spell to become a magical girl.
But...
"...Eh?"
The mana that usually wrapped her body when she said that was not felt.
No, rather, it was as empty as a void.
She couldn't transform at all.
"Why, why...?"
A sense of powerlessness covered her whole body.
But more than that, a despair that there was no way to confront the clone walking in front of her flooded her mind.
"Don't come! Don't come, I said...!"
She threw the random items in her hand and swung her arms, but with her non-transformed fragile body, she couldn't stop Dark Blue's approach.
"How pitiful, Original. Not being able to defeat your own clone. Truly embarrassing."
"N-no... I'm... a magical girl... I never lose..."
"Have you not lost several times already?"
Dark Blue's words flew like a dagger and pierced her chest.
*Thud.*
Again, something from near her heart felt like it had fallen.
"Take your leave, Original."
A black-purple crystal was loaded into the center of the sword guard held in Dark Blue's right hand.
"I will fill your empty spot."
"Wh, what..."
"Without anyone noticing, you are replaced forever."
*Crack crack crack!*
Dirty lightning struck from the sword.
"Then, farewell."
*Kwaaang!*
The sword descended.
*****
*Hic, haaaak?!*
"Sis, are you okay?"
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was my little sister, who had entered elementary school this year, looking down at me with a worried face.
"Mom called to eat dinner, but you didn't get up, so I woke you up. Sorry for opening the door?"
"Ah, no, it's fine..."
"But Sis, did you have a bad dream?"
"N, no. It's fine. Let's eat dinner."
Kim Min-ah led her still-sweaty body and got out of bed.
Hoping this situation wasn't a dream within a dream like before.
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